Let’s face it, a student’s mind is a chaotic place to be. Floating around in your brain is a jumble of thoughts, worries, insecurities, and new subjects you are somehow supposed to master by the end of the year. Behind all of this calamity, there is also a mountain of tests, projects, essays, and responsibilities always looming in the background. Looking at the heap of work towering over you, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Using to-do lists helps alleviate this stress, and can overall increase your productivity.
But how do to-do lists achieve this? A lot of the benefits of to-do lists can be traced back to the Zeigarnik Effect. The Zeigarnik Effect, first described by Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, refers to our ability to remember uncompleted tasks better than the ones we already finished. This psychological concept can tell us that uncompleted work demands our attention and thoughts, even when needing to focus on other activities.
Have you ever started working on one task and your fickle mind whispers, “Wait, what about that physics lab you never finished? Isn’t that due on Tuesday?” or “Hold up, why are you working on this now? You have that history test tomorrow.” This is the Zeigarnik Effect in action.
Students, with dozens of assignments, tests, and extracurricular responsibilities, are no strangers to the Zeigarnik Effect. However, instead of becoming victims to their own psychology, students can alleviate the symptoms of the Zeigarnik Effect with a simple, classic remedy: a to-do list.
According to a 2011 study by social psychologist Roy Baumeister and Wake Forest psychology professor E. J. Masicampo, making a to-do list, or a plan, to tackle unfinished tasks decreases Zeigarnik intrusions, allowing people, especially students, to focus on their current concerns without worrying about what still needs to be done.
Secondly, a to-do list breaks down daunting projects and responsibilities into smaller, more attainable pieces. When starting a long-term project, it’s hard to know where to even start. However, by listing out each step you need to complete to finish the project and when you will do it, the project suddenly feels more achievable and less unnerving.
Lastly, making to-do lists decreases the cognitive burden of unfinished tasks. Instead of having to hold all the various work you have to do in your brain, creating a to-do list allows you to unload all those thoughts and responsibilities on paper, helping you clear your mind and focus on the present.
By making tasks seem more attainable, helping concentration on current work, and helping clear the mind, to-do lists are a positive influence on a student’s overall productivity and mental health.
“I’ll get really stressed if I have a lot to do and I’m not organized with it, so having a to-do list makes me a lot less stressed and feel like I have a plan to get everything done,” Cozette Humen (’26) said. “I find it makes my day clear and more organized, and I have found I’ll procrastinate less when I have a to-do list.”
To create her to-do lists, Humen uses a Google document. She lists each day of the week Sunday through Saturday and writes all the tasks she wishes to complete under its corresponding day. While this method was effective for Humen, there is a myriad of to-do list techniques to choose from.
On paper, there are planners with built in to-do lists and simple notebooks where you could jot down any tasks you want to complete during the day or week. These methods are great for students who want more freedom with their to-do list structure. Plus, nothing is more satisfying than crossing completed work off your paper list.
If you are interested in making a digital to-do list, you could use Google Tasks or Notion. Google Tasks is an application already embedded within your Google Workspace, making it ideal for those who want to integrate their to-do list with a Google Calendar. Notion, on the other hand, is its own productivity software in which you can create an entire personalized workspace dedicated to your to-do list. Notion’s various tools allow the user to customize its pages however they please, allowing them to organize their to-do list in whichever way makes the most sense for them.
No matter how you create your to-do lists —online or on paper or simple or intricate— creating to-do lists can overall help maximize your productivity and make you feel more focused and less stressed during the school year.
“I would recommend others to make to-do lists,” Humen said. “It makes your tasks and due dates way less stressful and more achievable.”