How to deal with unfinished projects

In his book “Getting Things Done” David Allen talks about open loops and the effect they have when they start to pile up. Our brains are great for creating ideas but terrible for storing them, when you have unfinished work it keeps competing for your attention, and any additional ideas add on top.

These can be small like “send that email” or larger decisions you have not yet made such as “decide which plan is the best option”. Without realising it they slowly build up in your mind and occupy space until you do something about them.

Unfinished projects usually are a result of work in a chain that requires action downstream before you can continue. Have a look at the number of messages you sent in the last week - how many of them ended a piece of work, vs those that are still hanging waiting for some kind of response/check.

How to reduce the mental burden

The more you try to remember, the worse the stress will get. Start by writing down every open-loop you have. This is every project or task that is not yet completed. When you have finished you’ll be surprised at how long the list is!

Writing it down is not enough, you now need to set time in your calendar everyday to check this list. This prevents you from wondering “Did I write that down?” which will further take up mental energy.

The goal is to have everything written down in a place you check regularly. That way you can relax knowing you don’t have to remember everything.

Context switching

Every time you switch between projects/tasks you have to get back in the frame of mind to continue again - and this takes time. When writing down tasks/projects make sure to take copious notes and add links to all documents. Add comments of where you were last up to so you can pick up faster next time.