--- title: Productivity Tips: How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done description: Your brain nags your mind of uncompleted tasks and goals canonical: https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-14T11:00:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:39:35.058Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done og:description: Your brain nags your mind of uncompleted tasks and goals og:url: https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done twitter:description: Your brain nags your mind of uncompleted tasks and goals twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 14, 2015 11:00 AM UTC by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Aug 14, 2015 11:00 AM UTC Comedian Drew Carey outsourced the development of his productivity strategy to David Allen, author of the cult classic, [Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143126563/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143126563&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=R7LWUPZJCBGW4GCE), who “taught him how to adhere to specific next steps rather than abstract larger goals.” Allen’s system, outlined in [Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122231/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143122231&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=RK4VWRLVM3FLJRRX), focuses “on the minutiae of to-do lists, folders, labels, in-boxes.” --- > “” --- Psychologists have also studied the mental stress of the monkey mind. This nagging of uncompleted tasks and goals is called the [Zeigarnik effect](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2009/12/zeigarnik-effect/) and also helps explain why [to-do lists are not the answer](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/04/saying-no-how-successful-people-stay-productive/). --- > “” --- Until recently we thought this was the brain’s way of making sure we get stuff done. New research, however, has shed preliminary light on the tension our to-do lists cause in our cognitive consciousness and unconsciousness. --- > “” --- If you have 150 things going on in your head at once, the Zeigarnik effect leaves you leaping from “task to task, and it won’t be sedated by vague good intentions.” If you’ve got a memo that has to be read before a meeting Thursday morning, the unconscious wants to know exactly what needs to be done next, and under what circumstances. But once you make that plan— once you put the meeting memo in the tickler file for Wednesday, once you specify the very next action to be taken on the project— you can relax. You don’t have to finish the job right away. You’ve still got 150 things on the to-do list, but for the moment the monkey is still, and the water is calm. This is how David Allen solved Drew Carey’s organizational problems. --- > “” --- **_Still curious?_** _Follow up with_ [_Getting Things Done_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143126563/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143126563&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=R7LWUPZJCBGW4GCE) _and_ [_Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122231/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143122231&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=RK4VWRLVM3FLJRRX)_._ **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/06/david-allen-productivity/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/"},"headline":"How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done","datePublished":"2015-08-14T11:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:39:35.058Z","description":"Your brain nags your mind of uncompleted tasks and goals","url":"https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/","keywords":["Psychology","Innovation"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3984561/zeigarnik-effect/","name":"How To Calm Your Monkey Mind and Get Things Done"}}]}] ```