justin sautter

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Close the loop

Oct 14th, 2025

As I grow older and am being forced to deal with more nonconsentual responsibilities, I’ve noticed an interesting response between what I’m able to handle and what I’m not. Here’s what I’ve noticed:

The brain dedicates exceedingly more amounts of energy towards remembering tasks you haven’t finished, rather than ones you have.

L33t speak: your brain dedicates a lot of memory in RAM for open tasks.

This sounds very obvious once you say it out loud, but took some time for me to personally see this relationship in action (a crashout). Between working full time, being in school full time, volunteering, tutoring, and fixing up a new (to me) car, it has worn on me.

Of course, one of the best reminders is that your situation is most likely temporary, but if it’s not, mental cope is not a permanent solution.

If you want to remain in a clean headspace, it’s important to leave as few tasks open as possible.

Close the loop. Tie up your loose ends. Finish your work. Run free().