Too many tabs open in your head? Close a few. You’re not quitting them, you’re freeing up memory.

Open loops consume attention whether or not you are working on them. Every unfinished decision keeps a piece of your mind occupied, and enough of them together leaves nothing for what you are actually doing. Closing one does not mean abandoning it, it means putting it somewhere other than your head. What you are short of is working memory rather than time.

Write the open items down, then finish, hand off or deliberately postpone three of them with a date attached. Say the postponement out loud so it counts. Attention comes back as soon as the loop stops looping.