Free writing before actually writing?

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I've discovered a new technique that helps me organize my thoughts and concentrate on my fiction writing better. Before I get on my Brother typewriter to churn out pages, I take out a five subject notebook that I purchased lately and jot down what's going on in my brain pertaining to what I wish to write. It's cleared my mind quite a bit, and since I'm going to be busy writing over the summer, this comes as a relief. Has anyone tried free associating in notebooks prior to sitting down and writing?

This is a very useful technique. Since I was a technical writer in Silicon Valley, I learned to "throw ink at paper" before editing my initial writings into cogent thoughts. Stream-of-consciousness writing helps get core ideas in the overall narrative. Most writers prefer to edit than to write from wholecloth. Thus, one can achieve better writing by throwing ink at paper, and then editing to perfection. The great thing is it works on the paragraph, page or chapter levels.

You ARE a writer!

I usually have purging evenings the evening before I want to try and work on anything cause my brain is so crammed and my moods fluctuating the last five years that I cannot even function without going on thought purges let alone guarantee myself any creative energy, so I kinda do this, I just constantly write my thoughts down and edit and revisit them if they need that, my creative energy is always linked to my overall energy, so if I have free mindspace I am usually either researching, focusing on interests, or doing summat creative, I've been so busy progressing in life from the almost non functioning state I'd been in for three years that I've been terribly haphazard in my ability to work on creative projects including writing but am slowly getting back into the groove! I do free write for ten minutes before I gain any form of confidence in pursuing a scene.

Y'know, I might want to try that, as the times I don't write tend to be when my head is filled with thoughts and feelings that demand attention at the expense of my work.