The Zeigarnik Effect
Unfinished tasks stick in our memory much more strongly than completed ones.
The effect is named after the Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who in the 1920s observed that waiters remembered open orders much better than those that had already been paid for. Later experiments supported her conclusion: the brain seems to keep unfinished tasks active as a mental reminder until they are done. Once a task is completed, it is released. This explains why an unresolved question can buzz in the back of your mind all day, while finished projects are quickly forgotten.
You start writing an email but don't send it. Four hours later, right in the middle of something completely different, it pops into your head. If you had sent it right away, it would likely already be out of your mind.
This effect is the underlying reason why cliffhangers, open to-do lists, and ongoing arguments take up so much mental space.
Write down every unfinished thought that is nagging at you today. Simply writing them down often reduces the mental pressure, even before they are resolved.
What isn't finished takes up more space in your head than what is.
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