Your Most Daunting Open Loops

An open loop typically refers to an unfinished project, task, or assignment. Sometimes people will extend the definition to include their major goals as well. I’ve been finding a lot of value in extending this concept to include anything that pops into my mind where I don’t feel that I’ve achieved sufficient closure. If my mind is dedicating some internal processing cycles to a thought pattern that isn’t aligned with what I’m doing in the moment, that’s a distraction. And many of those distractions come from unresolved open loops. These open loops could be little things, like a past memory that pops up. Or they could be significant concerns, like trying to get clarity on the coronavirus situation. So instead of just thinking of an open loop as an incomplete item on my to-do list, I think of it as any thought pattern that pulls my mind away from what I’m doing. Resolving Open Loops There are multiple ways to handle an open loop: Fully complete it, so it’s 100% done.Make a plan for how you’ll complete it.Schedule on your calendar when you’ll plan it or complete it.Push it down to a Someday / Maybe list to consider later, in which case you also need a routine for regularly reviewing that list, like once per calendar quarter.Delegate or outsource it to someone else, in which case you still need to follow up to make sure they finish it, so it remains an open loop for you till they get it done.Let it go i...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Emotions Lifestyle Productivity Source Type: blogs