Death by a Thousand Tasks

That sweet little surge when you cross something off a list? Mmm. That’s dopamine. Pure neurochemical candy. Your brain says, “Nice work, champ. Look at all that… surface-level busyness.”

But what if that progress is just an illusion?

You just answered five emails (most of them replies like “Sounds good”), organised your desk, and updated a spreadsheet. You didn’t move the business forward. You didn’t finish the hard thing.
But hey, your inbox looks great!

It felt productive. But it wasn’t. You felt busy. But “busy” work masks real impact. The dark side of the traditional to-do list is that it rewards activity over impact.

Until recently, I was a to-do list devotee. Who isn't? From school revision timetables to work projects, we've been conditioned to believe that listing tasks and ticking them off is the path to productivity.

But I've noticed something troubling. My list never shrinks—it only grows. I've never reached Friday with fewer items than Monday. Each completed task seems to spawn two more. It's like fighting a productivity hydra.

This endless loop began to mess with my head. There had to be a better way to balance achievement with well-being.

Your Brain on Unfinished Tasks

The science explains why to-do lists feel so unsatisfying:

Harvard research found 41% of to-do list items are never completed.
That matters because your brain doesn’t just forget the ones you skip. A Soviet psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik discovered something wild: We’re hardwired to remember unfinished tasks better than finished ones.

Your brain loops on them. Relentlessly. Like a toddler screaming your name while you’re on the phone.
This mental load leads to:

• Weakened focus

• Reduced working memory

• Elevated cortisol (stress)

• Lower performance

And yet, we keep adding more.
More tasks. More tabs. More noise.
We feel busy, but we’re not effective. Active but not impactful.

The Anti-To-Do List

Let’s ditch the dopamine treadmill and shift to selective task management. Here’s what I’ve been trying instead:

1. Capture tasks, don’t commit to them

I treat my task list like a suggestion box, not a contract. Everything gets captured (to clear my mental space), but nothing automatically earns a spot in my day. Each item goes into a backlog, a "consider for later" collection. This simple mental reframing reduces the pressure immediately.

2. Choose just 3 meaningful tasks daily

Rather than drowning in 20 mediocre tasks, I commit to a few high-value ones. To choose wisely, I use the Impact:Effort matrix.

• High impact, low effort → do now

• High impact, high effort → schedule it

• Low impact, low effort → delegate

• Low impact, high effort → eliminate

3. Work with your brain, not against it

I've stopped pretending I can focus intensely for hours uninterrupted. Who can with family demands, work pressures, and the general chaos of being human?
Instead, I work in 90-minute focused blocks followed by proper breaks (a walk, a meal, even just staring out the window). This isn't laziness; it's aligned with how our brains naturally function.
The result? Better focus, fewer mistakes, and crucially, less burnout.

4. Use your calendar as your list

The biggest game changer for me over the past year has probably been this. Once I’ve chosen my 3, I slot them directly into my calendar. That’s the forcing function. No floating to-dos. No “in progress” board.

Just: what, when, go.

It also lets me match tasks to my energy. Creative work in the morning, admin in the afternoon, calls when I’m least distractible.

5. Clear your list every Friday

Every Friday, I clear the decks. Anything that hasn't been touched moves to a "Maybe Later" list. If something has lingered untouched for weeks, I face the reality; either it wasn't that important, or I need to schedule it if it truly matters.

The Real Productivity Equation:
To-do lists make you feel busy. Calendared priorities make you effective.
Movement isn't momentum. Activity isn't achievement.

The goal isn't to do more things, it's to do the right things, with intention and presence. And perhaps most importantly, to do them in a way that leaves room for the messy, beautiful reality of being human.

So, cut the noise.
Pick the few things that matter.
Then do them, fully.

See you next Friday.

And that’s all, folks!

Thank you for reading the latest edition of my newsletter.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome.

And, please don’t be shy to share this with a friend or family member. Each week, I’ll share something that helps us find balance.

Peace, love and growth.
Jazza