January 1, 2024 8:22 AM
-
no-reply@todoist.com
✅ A (ridiculously easy) way to axe incomplete tasks
The email discusses the Zeigarnik Effect and suggests writing tasks down and breaking them into smaller steps to combat it.
Here's step one...
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64d960c32f7859038ca70ddf/6595eaaaa02338694aa87592_-a-ridiculously-easy-way-to-axe-incomplete-tasks.png)
January 1, 2024 8:22 AM
-
no-reply@todoist.com
✅ A (ridiculously easy) way to axe incomplete tasks
The email discusses the Zeigarnik Effect and suggests writing tasks down and breaking them into smaller steps to combat it.
Here's step one...
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</style><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation"><tbody style="width:100%"><tr style="width:100%"><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="text-align:center; padding-top:16px; padding-bottom:16px; vertical-align:top"><a href="#" class="underlineOnHover" target="_blank" style="color:#706F67; text-decoration:underline; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:13px; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; line-height:17.29px; letter-spacing:0.26px">Display in your browser</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" width="100%" class="container" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="max-width:600px; background-color:#FFFFFF; border-radius:10px"><tbody><tr style="width:100%"><td><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:left; padding-bottom:32px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="Todoist logo" height="32" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/logo_72b3fc1c96843f71fb23350260f1d64d.png" width="128" style="display:inline-block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none; margin:0; text-align:left; padding-bottom:0"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="content"><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:center; padding-bottom:0px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" height="227" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/d10_overwhelm_bd4b4cecd51f2f449ccc445b8f3398e1.png" width="500" style="display:block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none; margin:0 auto; text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="display:block; width:100%; height:32px; line-height:32px"> </span><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:left"><tbody><tr><td><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="padding-bottom:0px"><tbody style="width:100%"><tr style="width:100%"><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"></td><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top"><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">User,</p><span style="display:block; width:0px; height:8px; line-height:8px"> </span><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">They pop up when you least want them to. They plague your attention span. They leave you restless at night.</p><span style="display:block; width:0px; height:8px; line-height:8px"> </span><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">No, we’re not talking about Slack messages (this time).</p><span style="display:block; width:0px; height:8px; line-height:8px"> </span><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">We’re talking about unfinished or interrupted tasks... Like that one that you probably just thought of two seconds ago 🙊</p><span style="display:block; width:0px; height:8px; line-height:8px"> </span><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">This is called the <a href="#" rel="noreferrer" style="color:#0067C7"><span style="color:#0067C7">Zeigarnik Effect</span></a> and there is one ridiculously easy way to combat it: <b>Write your tasks down</b>. That's it. Simply write your tasks down.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="display:block; width:100%; height:32px; line-height:32px"> </span><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:center"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" height="216" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/d10_sleep_de9ff3dabceb8fef93e5fe2de5e5ae93.png" width="500" style="display:block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none; margin:0 auto; text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="display:block; width:100%; height:32px; line-height:32px"> </span><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:left"><tbody><tr><td><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="padding-bottom:0px"><tbody style="width:100%"><tr style="width:100%"><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"></td><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top"><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">Once that task is out of your head and into Todoist, make sure it has a fighting chance of getting completed by <i>identifying the smallest possible step</i> to get started:</p><span style="display:block; width:0px; height:8px; line-height:8px"> </span><ul style="margin:0 0 0 15px; padding:0"><li><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">Want to read a book? Add a task to read 5 pages.</p></li><li><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">Need to study for an exam? Add a task to study for 15 minutes.</p></li><li><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115">Procrastinating on your quarterly report? Add a task to finish the first two slides.</p></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="display:block; width:100%; height:32px; line-height:32px"> </span><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="#" target="_blank" style="border-radius:10px; background-color:#DE483A; padding:12px 18px 12px 18px; color:#fff; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:16px; font-style:normal; font-weight:700; line-height:100%; letter-spacing:0.16px; text-decoration:none; display:inline-block; max-width:100%"><span></span><span style="max-width:100%; display:inline-block; line-height:120%">Add your smallest possible thing to Todoist</span><span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="display:block; width:100%; height:32px; line-height:32px"> </span><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:center; padding-top:16px; padding-bottom:0px"><tbody><tr><td><p style="font-size:16px; line-height:26.4px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.16px; color:#232115; margin-bottom:12px">Productively,</p><img alt="" height="auto" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/signature_ebddf8dd402ceef7c91bb6bc799af294.png" width="212" style="display:block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none; margin:0 auto; text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="text-align:left; padding:24px 12px 32px"><tbody><tr><td><table align="center" width="170" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="padding-bottom:16px"><tbody style="width:100%"><tr style="width:100%"><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"><a href="#"><img alt="Twitter" height="24" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/twitter-grey_ddf36d95048e90ddd6926846fe463355.png" width="24" style="display:inline-block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none"></a></td><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"><a href="#"><img alt="Instagram" height="24" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/instagram-grey_9f17f3786472f183f76594ec3280e6c2.png" width="24" style="display:inline-block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none"></a></td><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"><a href="#"><img alt="LinkedIn" height="24" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/linkedin-grey_ac9c8a4899d2a8c2fe841f7b109a77ce.png" width="24" style="display:inline-block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none"></a></td><td class="" data-id="__react-email-column" style="vertical-align:top"><a href="#"><img alt="YouTube" height="24" src="https://todoist.doist-emails.com/_next/static/images/youtube-grey_1a80210b7cac05c361115e118e57a816.png" width="24" style="display:inline-block; outline:none; border:none; text-decoration:none"></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="font-size:13px; line-height:17.29px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.26px; color:#706F67; text-align:center; margin-bottom:16px"><a href="#" target="_blank" style="color:#706F67; text-decoration:underline; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:13px; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; line-height:17.29px; letter-spacing:0.26px">Inspiration Hub</a> | <a href="#" target="_blank" style="color:#706F67; text-decoration:underline; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:13px; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; line-height:17.29px; letter-spacing:0.26px">Download Apps</a> | <a href="#" target="_blank" style="color:#706F67; text-decoration:underline; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:13px; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; line-height:17.29px; letter-spacing:0.26px">Help Center</a></p><p style="font-size:13px; line-height:17.29px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.26px; color:#232115; text-align:center; margin-bottom:16px"><a href="#" class="underlineOnHover" target="_blank" style="color:#706F67; text-decoration:underline; font-family:Helvetica; font-size:13px; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; line-height:17.29px; letter-spacing:0.26px">Unsubscribe</a></p><p style="font-size:13px; line-height:17.29px; margin:0; font-family:Helvetica; font-style:normal; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:0.26px; color:#706F67; text-align:center">© Doist Inc. 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