Closing Loops: How Completing Tasks Can Reduce Mental Fatigue and Tips for Getting it Done

Many patients report mental fatigue even on days without significant emotional or cognitive demands. Clinically, this can reflect the cumulative impact of uncompleted tasks that continue to sit in your mind. This aligns with the Zeigarnik effect, a phenomenon first identified in the 1920s, describing how the mind holds onto incomplete tasks more than completed ones (Zeigarnik, 1927).

These uncompleted tasks, or "open loops," include things like brief conversations you want to follow up on, emails you intend to send, chores throughout the house, or longer-term decisions you haven't made yet. Individually they seem minor, but together they generate measurable cognitive load, like leaving open tabs on your browser running. Closing these loops reduces stress, improves cognitive efficiency, and enhances mental well-being.

Why Open Loops Increase Cognitive Burden

1. Unfinished tasks require ongoing cognitive monitoring

Research demonstrates that incomplete tasks occupy working memory resources, even when attention appears elsewhere. The brain maintains an active cognitive representation of these tasks, increasing internal load and distractibility (Ecker et al., 2014; Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011).

2. Open loops are associated with low-grade physiological stress

Persistent monitoring of unresolved tasks can activate stress responses. Studies show that uncompleted goals increase tension and internal pressure, while completion reduces subjective stress (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011).

3. Task completion creates cognitive closure

Completing tasks reduces mental tension and provides resolution. This activates reward pathways that reinforce adaptive follow-through behaviors (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2009).

Clinical Benefits of Closing Loops

Improved Cognitive Efficiency

Freeing up working memory by completing tasks allows better executive functioning, attention, and cognitive flexibility (Miyake et al., 2000).

Reduced Anxiety and Internal Pressure

When the brain is no longer tracking multiple unfinished tasks, individuals report reduced rumination and anxiety. Several studies connect unresolved goals to increased intrusive thoughts (Ecker et al., 2014).

Enhanced Attention and Focus

Lower cognitive load improves the ability to sustain attention. This can be especially helpful for individuals with ADHD or executive dysfunction (Barkley, 2012).

Strengthened Sense of Efficacy

Task completion improves self-efficacy, which is closely tied to resilience and improved psychological outcomes (Bandura, 1997).

Evidence-Informed Strategies for Closing Loops

1. Complete small tasks as an immediate intervention (the 5-minute rule)

Brief actions can significantly reduce cognitive tension. Research supports the benefit of completing small tasks to restore focus and free up mental resources (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011). An important thing that I find really help for patients is to use a 5-minute rule. If it takes less than five minutes to do, just do it right away instead of leaving it on a list for later. Remember you need to take out the trash? Do it now. Recall that you need to cancel a service trial before the next billing date? Sit down and cancel it before you move onto something else.

2. Externalize tasks onto a structured list

Offloading tasks onto external systems decreases reliance on working memory and reduces cognitive overload (Risko & Gilbert, 2016). Think of this like putting some of your open tabs onto a different computer. The brain reduces the amount of background load if it trusts that the task is taken care of elsewhere. I highly recommend this one not just because I see it work for others but because I found it was really helpful for me. Once I began using a structured list, I found my life ran more smoothly, I felt more organized, and I wasn't constantly worrying if things I needed to do were on my list (or where). I used to not be a fan of lists since I felt they were all over the place and I had lists to tell me about other lists. What cleaned this up for me was a centralized hub of things I needed to do where I would see it often and could easily modify how it functioned. It might sound silly, but a color/location-coded set of sticky notes on my bathroom mirror worked wonders. I keep longer-term tasks on the left (e.g. taxes, financial, working on a book) and stepdown to more moderate and immediate tasks on the right (walk, meditate, send email to X, etc). The immediate tasks are small daily things I need to do, which not only gives me a sense of my day for easy organization of my time but boosts my mood as I'm able to complete each task. You don't have to use your mirror like I do, but a centralized location you consistently see is one of the primary reasons this is helpful. Your brain gets that consistent reminder of what is on that central hub so it doesn't have to dedicate working memory to it.

3. Use a daily 10-minute closure interval

Consistently finishing small tasks prevents accumulation and improves mental clarity over time. Short, structured task sessions support better executive function regulation (Duckworth et al., 2019). At the end of every day, I go back to that central hub and remove the sticky notes I completed, putting up new ones for the next day. It gives a sense of closure to the day, which I'd argue has helped my sleep, and also gives a bit of clarity to the next day. I also noticed I was starting to get excited about the next day and the new things I felt I could add (and accomplish) as my brain got used to this routine.

4. Break large tasks into discrete steps you can finish

Research on goal-setting shows that breaking tasks into small units increases follow-through and reduces avoidance (Locke & Latham, 2002). I mentioned longer-term tasks above, like taxes, and that's a perfect example here. "Taxes" is itself a large, looming task but as it gets closer to tax time, I break that into things I can accomplish in a day. Gathering W-2s, importing receipts, and emailing my accountant all get their own sticky. Sometimes I get more than one of those done in a day. Sometimes I don't and that's okay because I know those tasks got broken down into things I can get done without feeling overwhelmed.

5. Implement decision frameworks to reduce mental friction

Decision fatigue is well-documented (Vohs et al., 2008) and is another set of things that sit in your working memory. Reducing the amount of decisions you have yet to make will be helpful. This deserves its own blogpost in and of itself but for brevity, do something like set a timer around making a decision ('I'll make the final call by 5 p.m.') or narrow it down to two reasonable choices and then decide what's "good enough." Your brain will stop looking for new choices once you've made a decision.

6. Acknowledge completion to reinforce adaptive pathways

Reward-based learning research shows that consciously noting completion strengthens motivation pathways and future follow-through (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2009). When you finish a task, take three seconds to breathe and recognize internally that it's completed. I mentioned my central mirror hub above, but throughout the day as I'm walking past it (or if I need a boost of motivation), I'll go move finished things all the way to the right to signal completion and it always makes me smile and boosts my confidence in my own ability to get things done.

Building Mental Resilience Through Task Completion

Closing loops supports both emotional and cognitive regulation. By reducing unresolved tasks, you can experience less overwhelm, better executive functioning, and improved psychological stability. Task completion practices reinforce internal control and resilience, which are essential components in long-term mental health.

Conclusion

Human working memory is not designed to track numerous unresolved tasks at once. Closing loops reduces cognitive load, supports anxiety reduction, and enhances mental clarity. You don't need major productivity changes to benefit from this approach. Small, consistent closures throughout the day are often enough to create meaningful improvements in your well-being. These tips are somewhat generic but if you'd like further help in dealing with mental fatigue or tiredness more personal to you, I'm accepting new patients to my practice even throughout the holidays.

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References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. Duckworth, A. L., et al. (2019). Self-control and grit: Related but separable determinants of success. Ecker, U. K. H., et al. (2014). Working memory and attentional control in maintaining task-relevant information. Kringelbach, M., & Berridge, K. (2009). The neuroscience of motivation and reward. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. Masicampo, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2011). Consider it done: Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Miyake, A., et al. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions. Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. (2016). Cognitive offloading. Vohs, K. D., et al. (2008). Decision fatigue exhausts self-regulatory resources. Zeigarnik, B. (1927). On the retention of completed and uncompleted actions.