By definition the Zeigarnik effect is the psychological tendency to remember an uncompleted task rather than a completed one or the desire to finish something that is incomplete. It nags at you, till it is done.
The idea of unfinished tasks using a significant amount of your mental resources, even when you are not directly attending to them is referred to the Zeigarnik Effect. This observation was named after Bluma Zeigarnik.
The pervasive thoughts that you experience regarding unresolved issues often motivate you to go back and complete the task. Even if you try to move on to something else, incomplete work can still have an influence on you.
Close Open Loops! How the Zeigarnik Effect is Depleting your Willpower
How to Combat This Zeigarnik Effect?
To combat this, we need to inform our mind, we have a plan and it’s written down for later. This dumping onto a resourceful location will subconsciously close this open loop. The key is to have it in a location, where we trust.
- Bullet Journal. (I touch on this in my free Newsletter, Critical Thinking in a Crazy World #5.
- To-do list analog (paper) or digital
This is why we feel a sense of relief when we cross that completed task. This is also why we soon forget, after it’s truly done.
There is an interesting article regarding How to Use the Zeigarnik Effect to Improve Your Life. Within it, you can use this effect to have your short term memory seep into long term memory.
What method do you use to chase those nagging thoughts away? Do you have a workable method? I would love to hear it.
Matt Cole has high regard for knowledge share. He has a desire to share critical thinking and information. With a Masters in Information Technology and a wide array of certifications, while not working full-time, he wishes to knowledge share through providing insight, information organization, and critical thinking skills.
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