That approach works well for a lot of people.

What I’ve noticed (at least for myself) is that some loops persist even after categorizing them as now / later / never.

Especially social or memory-based ones — conversations replaying, unfinished replies, things that aren’t urgent but still keep reloading in the background.

The apps aren’t trying to replace prioritization. They’re more about giving certain thoughts a clear external endpoint so the mind doesn’t keep reactivating them.

Different layer than task management — more about cognitive load than productivity.

Curious whether you’ve found that categorization alone fully stops loops for you, or if some still linger.

These mental tools don’t require extra gear:

- forget things

- distinguish between important and urgent

- separate things into now, later, never

- ephemeral max 3 item todo list in your head

- forget things