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CAPTIVATED: unlocking what makes us tick, click, and buy, with psychology-backed tips and behavioral science shortcuts.
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SUNDAY SERIES [Smart Productivity]: 60-second, science-backed tips to help your brain work smarter all week long.
Today’s Edition of Captivated Productivity [SUNDAY SERIES]: How to Hack Your Brain to Stop Unfinished Tasks from Draining You
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THE PROBLEM:
If you feel tired before the day is even over…
If your brain feels heavy even when your calendar wasn’t packed…
If you can’t fully relax because there’s always “something else” hanging over you…
It’s probably not because you’re doing too much,
Or because you’re bad at resting,
And it’s not just because it’s the holidays and the end of the year.
It’s the unfinished tasks. (And maybe not in the way that you think).
Open loops quietly drain your mental energy all day long, even when you’re not actively working on them or thinking about them.
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THE BRAIN SCIENCE:
Your brain is wired to seek closure. When something is started but not finished, your brain keeps it active in the background.
Psychologists call this the Zeigarnik Effect: unfinished tasks stay more mentally “alive” than completed ones. They continue to pull attention, create tension, and consume mental energy.
That’s why unfinished emails, half-done projects, or “I’ll circle back around to it later” tasks feel exhausting. Your brain keeps checking them like open tabs.
Each unfinished task is an open loop that adds cognitive load. And over time, that background load adds up, leaving you mentally tired without knowing why.
(So here’s what you should try instead: Continues Below.)
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THE BRAIN HACK: Try it this week:
What to do:
Close loops, even tiny ones.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to finish everything. You just need to create a sense of closure for your brain, so it isn’t left with that “hanging” feeling and knows what’s happening next. Here are three different ways to do this:
Finish one small task fully so your brain can close the loop; or
Define the exact next step for a bigger task so it stops feeling open-ended; or
Decide when you’ll return to a task and write that down, so your brain knows it’s contained.
It seems so small, but when your brain knows a task is either done or contained, it stops tracking it in the background and stops burning energy on it.
This works because closure tells your brain it’s safe to release attention. You reduce background mental noise, free up energy, and instantly feel lighter.
You can start with just one loop. Notice how much mental space comes back when your brain doesn’t have to keep holding it open.
Give it a try and see if it helps.
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Did you Enjoy this Edition?
Cheers to a productive week ahead. 🍻
👋 Until next time,
Profit Nic
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