Use the Zeigarnik Effect to Improve Your Productivity
By: Giulia Penni
Tags: Cognitive Bias, Productivity, Psychology, Self Improvement, Zeigarnik Effect

Use the Zeigarnik Effect to Improve Your Productivity

Why feeling guilty for things you don’t get done isn’t actually a bad thing

Image by David Iskander on Unsplash

If you can’t stop thinking about the cliffhanger of your favorite Netflix series or find it hard to concentrate because that unfinished work project keeps intruding in your thoughts, well, you are not alone. There is a reason why everybody can’t stop thinking about uncompleted tasks: psychologists call this phenomenon the Zeigarnik effect.

The effect was discovered and described by a psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik in the 1920s. Dr. Zeigarnik was having dinner with friends when she noticed that the waiters at the restaurant were able to remember long and complex orders, but they couldn’t remember what people had ordered after the bill was paid.

Dr. Zeigarnik designed a series of experiments to uncover the process behind this phenomenon. The participants had to perform some simple tasks, like completing a puzzle or solving math problems. Half of the people participating in the experiments were interrupted partway through these tasks, while the others were able to complete them uninterrupted. After an hour, Zeigarnik asked the participants to describe what they had been working on: she discovered that those whose work had been interrupted were twice as likely to remember what they had been doing as those who had completed their tasks.

The Science Behind the Effect

We need to understand how short-term memory works to understand the Zeigarnik phenomenon. Short-time memory is limited in capacity, so in order to hold on to pieces of information, we have to keep rehearsing them, and this requires mental effort. People use tricks to constantly pull memories back into awareness — the Zeigarnik effect is one of them. We better remember uncompleted tasks by thinking of them more often.

Dr. Zeigarnik suggests that failing to complete a task creates a cognitive tension: when we start working on a task and are suddenly interrupted, a task-specific tension is created. Through continuous tension, the content is made more easily accessible and can be easily remembered. This tension though makes it hard for us to concentrate on anything else: the only way to let go of it is to complete the unfinished task.

How to Use the Phenomenon to Your Advantage

People usually feel bad about incomplete tasks and experience stress because of the intrusive thoughts accompanying unfinished or interrupted activities. Luckily, there are a few ways to use the Zeigarnik effect to our advantage if we learn how to channel our thoughts and desire to get the job done.

Boost Your Productivity

When I have a boring work task that I am reluctant to begin, I tend to procrastinate and leave it to the very last minute. The result? I rush through the task, feeling stressed, and more prone to make mistakes. To avoid this, you can do a simple thing: make a start on your task. You don’t have to complete the task immediately; simply starting can have a huge impact on motivation. Once you have started working on a task, you’ll find it keeps popping into your head… until you complete it.

Generate Interest in Your Work

Content marketers and advertisers use the Zeigarnik effect to persuade consumers to buy products; filmmakers and directors make use of this strategy too by creating powerful cliffhanger endings that make spectators want to see more. As a writer, you can put the Zeigarnik effect to use by promoting further consumption of the material you are writing. How? Don’t disclose all the information at the beginning — break down the content into smaller parts, each one containing one more piece of information: in this way, readers will have to complete the article in order to feel they have completed their task.

Improve Your Memory

If you want to learn and remember something more easily, take short breaks while working on a task or studying a subject. The task-specific tension will make it easier to access relevant information and will help strengthen your memory. When you take a break, do something completely unrelated to your task: if you were writing, go for a walk or make a coffee.

Achieve Your Goals

Setting your goals and writing them down is the best way to achieve them. The Zeigarnik effect will keep reminding you of these uncompleted tasks until you reach them. Failing to reach one of your goals will create tension within you, and the thought of your goals will keep popping into your head as a friendly reminder, motivating you to achieve them.

Write a To-do-list

Finally, don’t let the Zeigarnik phenomenon affect your mental health and well-being. When you fail to complete a task, the task-related tension in your brain can lead to stress, anxiety, and even burnout, which can all impact productivity. To contain the negative effect of the Zeigarnik phenomenon, you can try writing a to-do list of your unfinished tasks at the end of the day: acknowledging that you have outstanding tasks and writing down that you will complete them allow you to experience fewer distractions during the day, to feel relax and ready to focus.