Why You Can't Move On: Understanding the Psychology Behind Unfinished Tasks

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Abstract: This article explores the psychological phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik effect, which explains why unfinished tasks persistently occupy our thoughts and mental resources. Drawing on cognitive research and organizational psychology, the authors investigate why our brains become fixated on incomplete work and offer evidence-based strategies for leaders to manage this tendency. The discussion examines how interruptions, context switching, negative emotional associations, and lack of cognitive closure contribute to mental preoccupation with unfinished business. By understanding these mechanisms, leaders can implement practical approaches—including dedicated focus time, formal closure processes, and emotional reframing techniques—to help themselves and their teams effectively complete tasks, transition between priorities, and optimize both productivity and mental wellbeing in today's demanding work environments where competing responsibilities constantly vie for attention.

We all experience it - that nagging feeling that something is unfinished, incomplete, or still needs to be done. Whether it's a looming deadline, a hanging chore, or an unresolved work issue, our brains have a way of constantly bringing unfinished tasks to the forefront of our minds. As organizational leaders facing endless to-do lists and responsibilities, effectively managing and prioritizing tasks is crucial. Yet many of us struggle with moving on from unfinished business and fully focusing on other priorities. Why does our brain get stuck on unfinished tasks? And how can understanding the psychology behind it help us be more productive?

Today we will explore the cognitive and behavioral reasons why we struggle to let go of unfinished work, and share practical strategies leaders can use to complete tasks and better manage their mental bandwidth.

The "Zeigarnik Effect" Explained

One of the primary reasons our brains dwell on incomplete tasks is known as the Zeigarnik effect. Named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik who first identified the phenomenon in the 1920s, the Zeigarnik effect refers to our brain's ability to better remember interrupted or unfinished tasks compared to completed ones (Tobias & Everson, 2009). Zeigarnik found that waiters in a restaurant had an easier time recalling food orders that were still waiting to be served versus fulfilled orders. Numerous subsequent studies have confirmed this effect across various contexts and activities. According to cognitive theories, when a task is unfinished, our brain continues to allocate cognitive resources like attention and working memory towards it to drive us to completion. This helps ensure survival by motivating us to finish dangerous or important tasks like finding food or finishing a shelter. However, in today’s information-overloaded work environments, it can lead to distractions and being mentally stuck on lingering to-dos instead of focusing on new priorities.

Managing Interruptions and Context Switching

One factor that contributes to the Zeigarnik effect is frequent interruptions and context switching between tasks before completion. When we are pulled away from an activity prematurely, our brain continues associating resources with the unfinished business in anticipation of resuming it. According to neuroscientists, each context switch requires cognitive effort and mental reset that breaks our concentration (Gonzalez & Mark, 2004). Further, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully refocus on a task after an interruption, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology (Li, et al., 2016). No wonder our inboxes, tasks apps, and random reminders from colleagues keep drawing us back to incomplete work! As organizational leaders facing competing priorities and demands, it is important to be mindful of unnecessary interruptions and block dedicated time to focus deeply without interruption. Establishing clear periods of uninterrupted work, minimizing non-critical notifications, embracing a “heads-down” approach, and setting boundaries can help reduce the psychological impact of interruptions on focus and productivity.

Using Closure Strategies to Find Mental Resolution

While some degree of the Zeigarnik effect is useful for driving progress, not all unfinished work requires constant cognitive resources. Leaders must develop strategies to find cognitive closure on tasks and projects in order to fully shift mental bandwidth elsewhere. According to cognitive closure theory, we are motivated to reach conclusions and feel resolved, as uncertainly and ambiguity cause psychological discomfort (Kruglanski & Webster, 1996). Taking time for reflection and review at the conclusion of significant tasks or stages can help our brain perceive the work as complete and relieve this discomfort. Strategies like summarizing learnings, formally closing out projects, celebrating milestones, documenting next steps, and visualizing hand-offs provide the cognitive signals our brain needs to let go.Organizations can encourage these behaviors by instituting review and retrospective processes as standard operating procedure. For example, many tech companies use "post-mortems" after major launches or changes to reflect on successes, failures, lessons learned and anything left undone that requires follow up. These sessions serve as bookends that help teams and individuals achieve psychological closure. Leaders should role model and promote intentional closure habits such as summarizing email threads, formally parking projects before moving to a new initiatives, and establishing defined "end dates" for tasks instead of open-endedness that breeds unfinished mentalities. Structuring work for closure will enable teams to fully clear their mental slates and channel full attention elsewhere.

At Anthropic, an AI safety startup, teams use "retrospectives" after each two-week sprint to reflect on goals, progress made, lessons learned and any lingering responsibilities. These ritualized introspection sessions signal cognitive completion to the teams and allow everyone to mentally "reset" before embarking on the next phase of projects. Team leads also promote closure by documenting decisions made and action items assigned at the end of meetings, so nothing falls through the cracks. Having established routines to evaluate work and intend closure helps the fast-paced teams avoid psychological tethers to past work.

Attaching Negative Emotions Inhibits Completion

Another factor amplifying the Zeigarnik effect is associating unfinished tasks with negative emotions like anxiety, frustration or failure. When we attach intense feelings to incomplete work, it causes our nervous system and memory centers to prioritize resolving the unpleasant state (Bowman, et al., 2019). Unresolved issues at work thus take on disproportionate psychological real estate in our minds as we ruminate on resolving stressors to restore equilibrium. However, sometimes tasks sit incomplete due simply to external factors outside our control or lack of necessary resources and bandwidth rather than poor performance. Leaders must help teams reframe unfinished work in neutral, solution-oriented language instead of negatively-charged words that breed angst and mental paralysis. Promoting compassion and non-judging self-talk around productivity can allow individuals to dissociate overwhelming feelings from past responsibilities, so they are not psychologically weighed down and better able to focus on new imperatives. Practices like mindfulness meditation cultivate an observational stance that separates one's self-worth from task outcomes, enabling calm prioritization and fluid transitioning between work.

At Anthropic, senior engineers emphasize focusing on contributions rather than minor misses or fixes during performance reviews. They encourage team members to reframe any lingering bugs or todos in neutral language like "items still in progress" rather than failure-oriented terms. Pairing tasks with supportive accountability partners and making flexible deadlines helps relieve pressure and the attachment of negative emotions to work, allowing for healthier cognitive disengagement when priorities change.

Conclusion

Understanding why our brains cling to unfinished business provides powerful insights to structure work and teams for increased focus, flow and mental bandwidth. By recognizing how cognitive processes like the Zeigarnik effect and negative emotion influence what captures our minds, leaders can implement strategies to find resolution, reduce interruptions, and promote healthy reframing of unfinished work. Formalizing closure processes, valuing focus over multitasking, and helping teams develop self-compassion cultivates an environment where individuals and groups can seamlessly transition attention between initiatives without mental clutter from the past holding them back. With consistent application of these principles, organizations can optimize productivity while protecting employee well-being in our perpetually busy work lives.

We explored the cognitive and behavioral factors that cause our brains to dwell on unfinished tasks through lenses like the Zeigarnik effect, interruptions, negative emotion attachment and lack of closure. It shared practical strategies organizational leaders can implement to help teams and individuals achieve psychological resolution on past work, protect focus, and fluidly shift mental resources to new priorities. Examples from tech companies demonstrate tactics like retrospective meetings, reframing language, and accountability partnerships that cultivate focused flow and creativity over distraction and paralysis from lingering to-dos. Optimizing how we and our teams manage both externally-facing work and internal psychological processes unlocks a new level of productivity and well-being in busy work environments dominated by competing demands and priorities.

References

1. Bowman, C. H., Marzouk, D. Z., Kwint, E. N., Daga, S. S., Patel, Y. Y., & Javitt, D. C. (2019). Anhedonia and the zeigarnik effect: Differential effects of reward and punishment on memory for completed and uncompleted tasks. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.

2. Gonzalez, V. M., & Mark, G. (2004). “Constant, constant, multi-tasking craziness”: Managing multiple working spheres. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 113-120).

3. Kruglanski, A. W., & Webster, D. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: “Seizing” and “freezing.” Psychological review, 103(2), 263.

4. Li, S. Y., Bhave, D. P., & Hoffman, H. G. (2014). How much is ‘too much’? Understanding workload and stress during multitasking. Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 122-130.

5. Tobias, S., & Everson, H. T. (2009). The importance of knowing what you know: A knowledge monitoring framework for studying metacognition in education. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Handbook of metacognition in education (p. 107–127). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

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Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.

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Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2026). Why You Can't Move On: Understanding the Psychology Behind Unfinished Tasks. Human Capital Leadership Review, 22(4). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.22.4.3