Success Story with Scott D. Clary

Episode: Lessons – You're Tired From Not Finishing (Solo Episode)
Date: October 30, 2025
Host: Scott D. Clary

Episode Overview

In this solo "lessons" episode, Scott D. Clary tackles a common issue for professionals and entrepreneurs: persistent mental exhaustion. The main theme centers on the idea that we aren’t tired from working too hard, but from carrying the “cognitive debt” of unfinished tasks, avoided conversations, unmade decisions, and open loops in our lives. Drawing on psychological research and his personal experience, Scott explains why these incomplete tasks weigh us down and provides actionable strategies for reclaiming mental energy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why You’re Really Tired

• Not Physical, but Mental Fatigue:

  • Scott distinguishes between being physically tired (lack of sleep, poor diet, long hours) and being mentally drained—feeling sluggish and drained by mid-day despite seemingly doing everything right with rest and self-care.
  • "You are not tired from the work you're doing. You're tired from the work you're not finishing." [02:25]

• Unfinished Tasks as Open Loops:

  • Examples include unreplied texts, unsent emails, avoided decisions, postponed conversations, and uncompleted projects.
  • These "open loops" consume mental energy by running in the background, similar to having too many tabs open on a computer.

The Psychology Behind Open Loops

• Bluma Zeigarnik & The Zeigarnik Effect:

  • A 1920s study found waiters remembered active orders perfectly, but forgot them as soon as the table was cleared.
  • Our brains are wired to obsess over undone tasks and quickly let go of finished ones.

  "Your brain is wired to hold onto unfinished tasks and let go of completed ones immediately."
  — Scott D. Clary [05:33]

• Today's complex, abstract, and unending tasks overload modern brains, leaving too many loops open at once.

Scott’s Personal Revelation

• Scott shares a personal anecdote about feeling persistently exhausted despite reduced work hours and adequate rest.

• After a friend asked how many things were left unfinished, Scott counted 12–14 open loops immediately.

• He spent a weekend closing as many as possible—finishing emails, having conversations, making decisions—and felt massively re-energized.

  "Monday morning I woke up with more energy than I'd had in months... not because I'd slept longer, but because I finally stopped carrying cognitive debt."
  — Scott D. Clary [10:36]

The Real Cost of "I'll Do It Later"

• Thinking you save energy by postponing small tasks is false; it adds continuous mental load.
• "Every single time you see their name, every time you unlock your phone, every time you think, 'oh yeah, I need to respond to that,' that is three seconds of mental load dozens of times a day for potentially weeks." [13:10]

Three Main Types of High-Cost Open Loops

1. Relationship Debt

   • Unanswered messages, unreturned calls, owed apologies, gratitude unexpressed, and avoided conflicts.
   • Social obligations create high-anxiety mental flags and spikes of guilt.

   "These cost the most because they involve other people. Your brain treats social obligations as high priority threats."
   — Scott D. Clary [16:17]

   • Example: After two months of guilt over a canceled plan, Scott resolved it in a two-minute message and a thirty-minute meeting.

2. Decision Debt

   • Unmade choices (jobs, moves, projects, relationships). Indecision wears you out by making your brain simulate multiple futures and outcomes.

   "Indecision forces your brain to hold multiple realities simultaneously."
   — Scott D. Clary [21:02]

   • Major insight: The ongoing mental energy spent on indecision can be ten times greater than the discomfort of making the decision.

3. Completion Debt

   • Projects 90% done, emails drafted but not sent, or anything awaiting the final step.
   • These feel most urgent because closure is close, but inertia keeps them flagged as top priority.

   "Six weeks of cognitive overhead for what ended up being maybe 45 minutes of work to finish and publish. And the moment I published it, I felt this mental weight lift."
   — Scott D. Clary [23:35]

Benefits of Aggressively Closing Loops

• Energy Increases:
  • Increased baseline energy, clarity, and focus.
• Reduced Procrastination:
  • Procrastination is often about cognitive overload—clearing loops frees bandwidth for new projects.
• Behavioral Shift:
  • Once you feel the difference, you become ruthless at closing loops quickly or abandoning them outright.

Practical Strategies: The Loop Audit [30:40]

Scott outlines his weekly system:

• "Every Sunday, I spend 30 minutes doing a loop audit. I go through five categories..." [31:05]
  • Communication: Texts, emails, calls needing a response.
  • Decisions: Choices still pending.
  • Completions: Projects or tasks 70%+ finished but not done.
  • Repairs: Appointments, maintenance, errands.
  • Social: Avoided conversations, gratitude, apologies.

Process:

• Close as many as possible immediately (most take less than 5 minutes).
• Schedule uncloseable ones.
• Explicitly abandon (write down “not doing this”) others to delete them from your mind.

Action Step for Listeners [35:33]

• Take out a notepad or your phone

• List every open loop: unfinished tasks, decisions, conversations, errands

• Identify which take less than 30 minutes and commit to closing three today

• Note how much lighter and clearer you feel the next morning

  "You’re not going to feel more motivated or more inspired. You’re just going to feel lighter. Like you’re running on eighty percent battery instead of thirty."
  — Scott D. Clary [36:44]

Memorable Quotes

• "You are not tired from the work you’re doing. You’re tired from the work you’re not finishing." [02:25]
• "Every unfinished thing is a tab that your brain keeps open just in case. And this is why you’re tired." [07:05]
• "Limbo is expensive. Your energy isn’t gone, it’s just being spent on keeping loops open instead of doing the actual work." [39:50]
• "Close the loops. Watch your energy return." [40:09]

Conclusion

Scott reframes exhaustion as a problem of open loops, not overwork. By identifying, prioritizing, and aggressively closing unfinished tasks—especially in relationships, overdue decisions, and almost-completed projects—you can dramatically increase your baseline energy and mental clarity. The episode emphasizes strategic action: a weekly loop audit, immediate task closure, and the freedom of consciously abandoning lingering items.

Takeaway:
"Your exhaustion in life isn't physical. It's cognitive overhead from unfinished business." [39:09]

For more tactical strategies and lessons, visit: www.successstorypodcast.com