good question. I adopted a rule I heard from some old guy I worked for years ago. he said anytime something, like a task, popped up that would take less than 5 minutes, he would just do it then or do it next.

its not some iron law or anything, but when prioritizing actions, taking care of the little items first or right as they come up seems to have some inertia to it and prevents a long list of lots of little things occupying and overwhelming the mind.

I also periodically make lists of action items, like when I close out my day/week so I can let them go and free my head up for whatever I’m actively doing.