2004: I was leaving India to come to the US for my Master’s degree. It is common in Indian Culture for elders to give parting advice. My friend’s mom who had never left India told me to write tasks in a book to become effective. I kept her advice in the back of my head but I didn’t act on it till years later.

2008: Productivity blogs were the rage. Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders was on the top of my list. I picked up his Hipster PDA system and carried it with me for nearly a decade. Even now, you will find a small stack of index cards clamped between a binder clip in my backpack. This was Merlin Mann’s way of capturing tasks. We were all followers of “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.

2021: I was reading Sönke Ahren’s book How to Take Smart Notes. He talked about the Zeigarnik Effect:

Unfinished tasks occupy and burden our mind. Burden keeps us from being creative and effective at other immediate tasks. Simply writing a task down in a reliable system allows the brain to "think" the task is complete even though it isn't. It frees up the brain to do more tasks.

I follow this up with Cal Newport who adds that the task capture system must be reliable. The brain must be confident that the task in that system will be completed at some time.