Dopamine Minimum
Momentum = visibility ÷ effort. The top task gets the glowing button.
When a full to-do list is impossible, pick the one-task pivot with the best payoff.
Depression compresses executive function. A 30-item list is a wall. One task — the highest visibility-to-effort ratio — is a door.
Part of: Saving & Spending Calculators
Quick answer
When a full to-do list is impossible, pick the one-task pivot with the best payoff.
Key points
- ▸ Visibility ≠ importance. A made bed is visible; paying a tax bill is not.
- ▸ Effort ≠ difficulty. Effort is how much activation it takes to start.
- ▸ Rank, do the top one, stop thinking about the rest.
- ▸ Tomorrow's shuffle will change the rank. That's fine.
Examples
- Bed vs kitchenBed (vis 8, eff 2) = 4.0 momentum. Kitchen (vis 9, eff 9) = 1.0. Make the bed today.
- Shower vs emailShower (vis 9, eff 4) = 2.25. Email (vis 4, eff 2) = 2.0. Close call — pick shower.
When to use which tool
- Time to HumanFor the outdoor branch of the decision tree.Weighed social ROI — does the connection payoff beat the transit, cost, and energy tax of leaving the house?
- Burnout MonitorIf the block is sleep loss rather than mood.Estimate when extra work hours stop being worth the fatigue cost from lost sleep.
Related
Frequently asked questions
› Isn't one task too little? Trust & accuracy
Yes — deliberately. The point is to defeat the start-energy problem. Once you're in motion, more tasks are natural.
› What if I finish it and still feel stuck? Troubleshooting
Reshuffle, pick the new top. But one is enough to count.
› How should I use this guide with a Kefiw tool? How-to
Use the guide as the plan and the linked Kefiw tool as the check. Read the steps first, try the move manually, then use the tool to compare outputs, catch edge cases, and decide whether the result actually fits your task.
› What mistake do tool guides help avoid? Troubleshooting
Tool guides help avoid using a utility mechanically without understanding what you are trying to accomplish. Most word, writing, and text utilities are fast, but speed can hide context mistakes. Know whether you are solving a puzzle, cleaning copy, drafting a line, or checking a rule.
› Can a tool guide help me learn the skill? How-to
A tool guide can help you learn if you pause before accepting the output and ask why it worked. Compare your first guess with the tool result, look for the rule or pattern, and repeat that review. Passive copying solves one task; active review builds the skill.