Scientific Definition
Unfinished tasks stick in working memory more than completed ones.
Plain-English Definition
Unfinished tasks stick in working memory more than completed ones.
Feynman Explanation
The to-do list haunts you. The done list evaporates.
Core Principle
Unfinished tasks stick in working memory more than completed ones.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Unfinished tasks stick in working memory more than completed ones.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Workflows that leave many tasks 'almost done' tax the team cognitively.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The to-do list haunts you. The done list evaporates.
Examples
- Why a half-written email pulls focus all afternoon.
- Workflows that leave many tasks 'almost done' tax the team cognitively.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Force close-out rituals. Reduce open loops as a productivity strategy.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Force close-out rituals. Reduce open loops as a productivity strategy.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Giving someone artificial early progress increases the chance they finish.
Temporal landmarks (Monday, January, birthday) trigger new behavior attempts.
What people expect of themselves shapes what they achieve.
Children who delay gratification at age 4 show better outcomes across nearly every metric decades later.
Interrupted tasks generate a pull to resume them.
If-then plans dramatically increase follow-through on intentions.
Contrast vivid future success with concrete present obstacles to drive action.
Wish → Outcome → Obstacle → Plan. A goal-setting protocol from Oettingen.
Preferring options with known probabilities over options with unknown ones.
We accept vague, general statements as personally meaningful.
We come to like people we've done a favor for, more than people who've helped us.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.