Anxiety About Undone Tasks Drains More Energy Than Doing Them

Psychologists call it the Zeigarnik effect: unfinished tasks occupy mental RAM. That email you have not replied to, the appointment you need to make, the form you have been meaning to fill out — they sit in the background, quietly draining your energy even when you are doing something else.

The fix is not to do everything at once. It is to either do it, schedule it, or write it down and let your brain release it. Close the open loops, and watch your mental load lighten.