on open & closed tasks

and how to combine them for a better life

I can’t remember where I first heard about the theory of open tasks versus closed tasks, but it’s something I’ve thought about almost every single day since. Specifically what fascinates me is how these two kinds of tasks are linked to human creativity and well-being.

The idea is a simple one. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of tasks that fill up our daily lives — open and closed. Closed tasks are short and fixed, with a clear beginning middle and end. They can be creative or administrative, the point is they are relatively straight forward. Obvious examples include baking a cake, pruning a hedge or paying a bill. Open tasks, by contrast, tend to be looser, longer term projects. These are the big important things we do bit by bit over time. When an open task isn’t going well it can be arduous and overwhelming but open task also have the potential to be hugely fulfilling. They are the projects that give our lives meaning and shape and move us forward, inch by inch, day by day, year by year. Examples include writing a book, raising a child, completing a degree or practicing a religion.

All of our lives include a mixture of open tasks and closed tasks. In a given day, most of us engage in a mixture of the two. The question is, what’s the right balance for optimum creativity and contentment? How do you know if you’re doing it right?

I have quite a lot of open tasks going on at the moment and some of them are unwieldy in the extreme. Getting divorced, for instance, is turning out to be the open task to end all open tasks. I’m also finishing a book, which is way more fun but equally massive and overwhelming. On top of this, I’m still in Spain, which means I’m spending a lot of time Sitting On the Beach Contemplating The Future. For me. For my boys. (I don’t recommend it as a practice — Future Contemplation — even on the beach, it’s basically a waste of time.) Anyway, because of all these open tasks, I have been trying my best to force myself to engage in at least one deeply pleasurable closed task each day. This could be doing thirty minutes of yoga. Making plum jam. Reading a poem or filing and painting my finger nails. I try to perform this daily closed task with relish. I try to give it my full attention and engagement. It never fails to make me feel better. Closed tasks provide a sense of creative accomplishment that allow me to press on with the open tasks which fill up and form my days.

So tell me, do you buy into the theory of closed vs. open tasks? If so how do you like to mix them up in the course of your average day? If not why not? In your experience does one kind of task inform your ability to perform the other? How do you balance the two? What works for you and what doesn’t? Please discuss!

My open threads are only open to paid subscribers. And look, if you haven’t yet taken the leap across the paywall my open threads are a good reason to do so. The quality of insight and observations among the Juvenescence community is pretty astounding. I’ve met great friends and I learn new things every week. Thanks for reading and sharing. Now talk amongst yourselves and I’ll jump in every once in a while to chip in.

Lx