The power of visualising what you have to do

It is often said that the more you see, the quicker you achieve. Whether you are an old-school paper person or a technological smartphone user, one thing is certain: writing down your tasks makes them easier to complete. Some people believe that in a hurried life, it is quicker just to memorize what needs to be done, while others hold the view that having a to-do list helps you manage your life better. But here is a question for you: are you capable of remembering at least five things someone asked you to do yesterday?

According to an article in Scientific American, “the memory capacity of the human brain has been estimated to equal 2.5 petabytes. A ‘petabyte’ means 1,024 terabytes, or a million gigabytes, so the average adult human brain can accumulate the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of memory.” Even though this is a huge capacity, some studies suggest that humans forget approximately 50% of new information within an hour of learning it. Within 24 hours, that number rises to an average of 70%. So, if you are the type of person who prefers to remember and memorize all your tasks during the day, your chances of recalling everything will be around 30%. Humans also have an average of 70,000 thoughts per day, which limits their attention to everything around them. Paying attention is usually necessary to create new memories, and people can only focus on a small number of things at once.

Moreover, studies show that we are capable of remembering 10% of what we hear, 20% of what we read, and 80% of what we see. So even if you don’t check your to-do list often, just the act of writing it down and visualizing everything that needs to be done increases your chance of remembering it—and completing it—more efficiently.

This suggests that having a place to organize your tasks and ideas will improve your memory, as it frees up extra brain capacity, allowing you to focus on completing tasks rather than just remembering them, which also reduces anxiety. If the list is shared, creating and visualizing tasks gives you and your team a clear idea of priorities, helping everyone create a structured plan. Simply ticking items off a checklist keeps you motivated to continue achieving your goals.

In conclusion, visualizing your tasks and maintaining to-do lists is a powerful tool for productivity and management. It helps you and your team become more effective, reduces stress and anxiety, and gives your mind permission to forget, freeing it to focus on what really matters.