That’s how Allen’s system deals with the problem that he calls monkey mind. If, like his typical client, you’ve got at least 150 items on your to-do list, the Zeigarnik effect could leave you leaping from task to task, and it won’t be sedated by vague good intentions. If you’ve got a memo that has to be read before a meeting Thursday morning, the unconscious wants to know exactly what needs to be done next, and under what circumstances. But once you make that plan—once you put the meeting memo in the tickler file for Wednesday, once you specify the very next action to be taken on the
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