I often feel this way. I think it helps _a lot_ to have an effective task management system. Why? There is this thing called the Zeigarnik effect. The Zeigarn

I often feel this way. I think it helps _a lot_ to have an effective task management system. Why? There is this thing called the Zeigarnik effect. The Zeigarnik effect states that unoccupied tasks tend to overwhelm your conscious thought. When you have too much stuff to do you get overburdened and stressed and start watching Youtube. (I've definitely been there). How do you deal with the Zeigarnik effect? Well, you can complete the task, but that's often a tall order. There's been research that shows that simply having a plan for how to complete a task helps you overcome the Zeigarnik effect. How do you make sure you have a plan for all your open tasks/projects? This is where the task management system comes in. I'll tell you a few that I've tried and the software I use. I think the two biggest systems for managing your todo list are Agile (adapted for personal use) and Getting Things Done (GTD). I have been using a person Agile system for about two years now. It has definitely helped with stress a lot. I have weekly "sprints" where I plan what I want to do for the week. I review every week - what went well and what can be improved. I have a backlog with all the tasks that I want to work on divided up by projects. I also have a board for projects and what state they're in - TODO, in progess, done. GTD is another system that I've been meaning to read about. What I know so far is that it's basically a flow chart for each item you have to do. There are lists for items in different categories - projects, backlog, current work. The key point is that both of these systems _never leave a task incomplete_. By "incomplete", I mean not finished or reviewed. Yes, reviewed. If you recall, these are exactly the two ways of eliminating the Zeigarnik effect and the stress it entails. Furthermore, with an effective task management system, you gain confidence and momentum in seeing your record of complete projects stack up. (I sometimes scroll back on previous years just for fun). What about software? I started out using Trello. It's simple, free, and has almost no learning curve. I have a board for my sprint, backlog, and projects. On my sprint board, I have 3 lists - TODO, in progress, and done. At the end of the week, I move the done list to the completed board. Then I have a visual record of everything I've completed over the past year (I make separate completed boards for each year). However, I've been slowly trying to convert all my stuff to org-mode in Emacs. Look up org-mode if you're unfamiliar with it. It's very popular among GTD enthusiasts. In short, have a plan for everything you're working on, keep a "scoreboard" or list of things you've accomplished, and review constantly - review each task at the EOD and review on a weekly basis at least.