Review the someday list weekly — even briefly

An unreviewed someday list is a guilt pile; a reviewed one is a planning resource.

Why it works

The Zeigarnik relief that motivates the capture system depends on the brain trusting that items will be revisited. If reviews never happen or are too infrequent, the brain re-engages its internal holding mechanism. Regular review also serves as a values calibration: items that remain in "someday" across multiple reviews are revealing information about what is genuinely desired versus what seemed appealing in the moment.

How to do it

1. Schedule a recurring weekly review of the someday list — even ten minutes is sufficient.
2. For each item, make one of three decisions: activate it (move to current projects), keep it (leave for next review), or remove it (no longer desired or relevant).
3. Do not let the review expand into execution — it is a triage session, not a planning session.
4. Note items that have survived many reviews without activation: they are either genuinely long-term or secretly unwanted.

Evidence

Regular review is a key component of Getting Things Done and related productivity systems; the principle that an untrusted system fails is consistent with research on plan-making and cognitive closure. (mechanistic)

The specific weekly cadence is a practitioner heuristic; the crucial requirement is that reviews happen frequently enough to maintain trust in the system.

Common mistake

Reviewing the someday list only when it feels useful, which means it is reviewed when motivated but abandoned when overwhelmed — exactly when the system is most needed.