Have you ever been stuck in an unfinished task spiral?
Do the unfinished tasks keep nagging you better than the completed ones?
Ever feel like you can’t get something off your mind until it’s finished? Welcome to the club of Zeigarnik Effect sufferers!
The Zeigarnik Effect is a cognitive bias that can be used to your advantage. Learn what it is, how to avoid it, and why it matters.
Understanding The Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik Effect is a cognitive bias related to memory and goal-setting. Here people tend to remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than those they’ve completed successfully.
We see every day: explains why we often find ourselves preoccupied with an unfinished task or the feeling that we are missing something out on something important even though we have not.
The study paradox is another outcome of the zeigarnik effect, where you tend to forget what you studied but remember what you didn’t. This can cause anxiety for many students who spend hours preparing for exams.
The human brain recognizes that there are still topics that need to be studied to achieve closure on the task of preparing for the exam.
As a result, the brain focuses on those unfinished topics and may need to remember some of the information already studied and mastered. To combat this issue, it is important to actively review all studied topics, old and new, to reinforce knowledge retention. It will help reinforce the knowledge retention needed for success on exams!
Exploited And Exploiters
The zeigarnik effect typically affects those who procrastinate or struggle with completing tasks, as they tend to remember the unfinished aspects of a task better than its completed parts.
On the other hand, people who are better at goal-setting and time management may be less likely to fall victim to this cognitive bias.
In addition, those who take advantage of the zeigarnik effect use it as a tool for motivation—whether it’s setting deadlines, breaking down tasks into smaller chunks, or simply reminding themselves of the consequences of leaving something undone.
Day-To-Day Zeigarnik Effect
- You can’t stop playing a game until you beat the final level, even though you know it’s time to go to bed.
- You keep refreshing your email inbox for news about an important job application even though nothing is new.
- You are avoiding studying for an upcoming exam and letting yourself get distracted by social media notifications instead.
- You can’t focus on anything else until you finish watching the last episode of a TV series that you started this morning.
- When shopping online, a retailer keeps showing you ads and discounts related to the items you were considering buying but haven’t pulled the trigger on yet.
Recognizing When You Are Slipping Into The Zeigarnik Effect Trap
One way to identify if you are facing the Zeigarnik Effect is to look back and try to understand how much time and effort you’re spending on a particular task or activity.
Are you getting sucked into it, even though you know that it’s an inefficient use of your time and resources? Are you having difficulty staying focused on other tasks because of the lingering feeling of incompleteness created by this one particular task? If so, there’s a good chance you are falling prey to the Zeigarnik Effect.
Overcoming The Zeigarnik Effect
- Create to-do lists and break down bigger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.
- Prioritize tasks and set achievable goals that can be completed within a reasonable period of time.
- Get rid of distractions or unfinished tasks before starting something new.
- Set a timer and work in timed intervals to reduce the task’s urgency.
- Reward yourself for completing a task or take breaks in between to stay motivated and energized.
- Reduce the complexity of a task by delegating it or asking for help from others when needed.
- Be mindful of your thoughts and focus on the present task at hand to avoid procrastination or distraction from other unfinished tasks.
Final Thoughts
Unfinished tasks hold a special place in our memory, and TV shows know how to use this to keep us hooked. With cliffhangers and loose ends, each episode leaves us begging for closure.
Your brains crave resolution, making you binge-watch until you finally get your fix. This habit can quickly become addictive. After one episode, one is compelled to find out what happens next.
This never-ending TV marathon can leave you with more unfinished stories and a burning desire to keep going. Before you know it, hours have slipped away, and you can’t tear your eyes away from the screen.
While binge-watching is a great way to unwind, one has to be mindful of its impact on your well-being. Sacrificing sleep and neglecting one’s responsibilities in pursuing the next episode can seriously affect both mental and physical health.
Finally
The zeigarnik effect can help and hinder us, driving us to finish tasks and creating addictive cycles. Understanding its power can improve our well-being and productivity.
By understanding the power of the Zeigarnik Effect and finding ways to manage its influence, we can improve our productivity, mental health, and overall well-being. If you want to know more such interesting facts about human tendencies, subscribe to our blog!
Reference
The above article is based on the book Thinking Clearly; this article is here to help us learn and understand how our minds can be tricked by something called cognitive biases.
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