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The Moment

The power of closing open loops ✨

Published 7 months ago • 2 min read


Hi Reader,

How often do you find yourself avoiding the things that you want to do?

Perhaps it’s a big life goal that feels overwhelming, or maybe a smaller daily habit that you know makes you feel better.

It’s easy enough to avoid the things we don’t enjoy, but you’d think it’d be easier to do the things we actually want to do.

Time is obviously one of the key factors (and one of my top excuses) for not doing something, but I think energy is even more of an issue.

We only have so much mental, emotional, and physical energy to use in a day, and it’s not something you can easily gain more of.

Plus, so much of our energy is used up by us thinking about things rather than doing them.

Something I’ve always struggled with is feeling overwhelmed, even if I’m not that busy.

I’ve realized this feeling often comes from thinking about all of the things I haven’t done yet.

And I don’t just mean that from a productivity standpoint.

I also mean things like having a hard conversation or following up on an email that I haven’t heard back on.

I let those things sit in the back of my mind instead of doing anything about them.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, calls this an open loop.

An open loop is essentially something that you’ve started but haven’t yet completed.

When I learned about this term, I suddenly realized how many open loops I had in my life.

There were so many projects and ideas that were half done, sitting there waiting to be finished.

When you have all of these things sitting in the back of your mind, they may be taking up your precious energy without you realizing it.

That's why this week's blog post is all about how closing open loops can create more mental, physical, and emotional space to do those things you want to do.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, energetically drained, or annoyed at yourself for not following through, this one's for you.


at the moment.

📖 Amazon First Reads: Did you know you can get 1-2 free Kindle books every month if you’re a Prime member? This isn't sponsored in any way, I just wanted my fellow book lovers to know this exists :)

🧘‍♀️ 7 Days of Mindfulness: It’s the time of year when things start to feel hectic, so take it slow with my seven-day mindfulness challenge.

💭 A good thought: “The most important thing to deal with is whatever is most on your mind. The fact that you think it shouldn’t be on your mind is irrelevant. It’s there, and it’s there for a reason.” - David Allen


a moment of bliss.

A moment of bliss is something in your day that you’re savoring or grateful for, no matter how small it might seem.

There's nothing quite like giving myself a lovely massage with a nice lotion just before bed. It very often makes me sleep more serenely too!

— Lou

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