Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals
Masicampo and Baumeister, at Florida State University, asked students to write about unfinished tasks. In the first study, with 69 undergraduates, mind-wandering during a later reading task was reported by 65.2 per cent of the unfinished-task group and 33.3 per cent of the group that also made a specific plan. In a later study, listing actions without committing to one did not reduce intrusions. Outcomes were intrusive thoughts, accessibility and task performance, not recall or resumption.
Masicampo and Baumeister, at Florida State University, asked students to write about unfinished tasks. In the first study, with 69 undergraduates, mind-wandering during a later reading task was reported by 65.2 per cent of the unfinished-task group and 33.3 per cent of the group that also made a specific plan. In a later study, listing actions without committing to one did not reduce intrusions. Outcomes were intrusive thoughts, accessibility and task performance, not recall or resumption.
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Masicampo, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2011). Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 667-683. doi:10.1037/a0024192.