Enjoying her meal at a restaurant in the 1920s, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik noticed something curious. Busy waiters were able to keep track of multiple complex orders and unpaid meals, but after orders were filled and paid for, they couldn’t recall details about those same orders.
Intrigued, Zeigarnik began to research the phenomenon. She discovered a fascinating quirk about how our minds work. We are up to 90% more likely to recall unfinished tasks than completed ones. Closed loops are quickly forgotten. Open ones get all our attention. According to Zeigarnik, ‘Unfinished items that we’ve left hanging are like cognitive itches.’
Think of it this way. Imagine you have 20 items on your daily to-do list. You have a magically productive day. You’re in a flow state, everything goes your way and you knock out 18 of those 20 tasks. Go you!
Yet as you lay your head on the pillow that night, the odds are high that it’s not the 18 goals achieved that you quietly celebrate as you drift off into restful, satisfied slumber. It’s the two unfinished tasks that rattle around anxiously in the back of your mind. And it’s those nagging open loops that wake you up at 2am.
It’s called the Zeigarnik effect.
Marketers and storytellers use it all the time. Think of all those noisy open loops that clamor for your attention every day:
- Curiosity inducing headlines or teasers in the news industry
- Attention-grabbing trailers in the movie industry
- Cliffhangers in soap operas, serialised books and TV shows
- Multi-level quests and rewards in online gaming
- Click-through ads and promotions
Our brains are hard-wired with a bias towards problem solving. And to give ourselves as much energy as possible to focus on the next problem, we are also programmed to quickly file and forget past solutions.
‘Unfinished items that we’ve left hanging are like cognitive itches.’
The Zeigarnik effect is why to-do lists, while helpful in many ways, can also be a source of mild stress and anxiety for some. Despite how much we’ve achieved in a day, intrusive thoughts keep bugging us about those pesky open loops. At the end of the day, our minds are drawn to how much we still need to do, rather than what we’ve already accomplished.
Pile up too many days in a row with carry-over open loops and we start to feel frustrated, unproductive and mildly inadequate. Soon our motivation suffers and writing our morning to-do list becomes a sigh-inducing chore with a side-serve of anxiety. The little voice in our head chimes in, ‘I have no will-power. I can’t even stick to a list. It works for everyone else. What’s wrong with me?’
Thankfully, there is a simple solution.
To banish to-do list shame, all we need do is to set up a system that helps our brain let go of open loops so it can relax. Productivity consultant, David Allen, in his best-selling book, ‘Getting Things Done’, explains that there is a direct link between our ability to switch off and relax, and our productivity. Allen outlines a number of ways to tame our seemingly endless inflow of things to-do and offers some quick and easy strategies – do it, delegate it, defer it, or drop it. Underpinning all of Allen’s strategies is the idea that our brain will relax when it knows that (a) our open loops are closed, or (b) that an open loop has been safely stored somewhere for later attention. Once these two conditions are met, our minds relax – and so do we.
It works for everyone else. What’s wrong with me?’
Our inbox is always overflowing with more tasks than we can handle. So it’s unrealistic to expect ourselves to complete everything in a day. Even on our best days, when we carefully prioritise and create what we think is a conservative and achievable to-do list, inevitable interruptions conspire against us to derail our best intentions. John Lennon had it right, ‘Life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans’. So it’s a very rare day indeed that we happily close our diaries with every crisis crossed off and every task ticked.
So if open loops are our daily norm, we need a plan to counteract the Zeigarnik effect. To somehow store those open loops that buzz around our brains like troublesome cognitive mosquitoes. If we can’t close a loop, we need to let our minds know that it’s safely bookmarked for later attention. Think of it as valet parking for your subconscious. As long as our mind knows it has the parking stub in its back pocket, it can relax and enjoy its evening out. Confident that it can hand in the stub when the time is right and the task will be there, polished and detailed, ready for the next stage of the journey.
The solution is so simple it’s almost comical.
Whenever you get to end-of-day with some uncrossed items on your to-do list, do two things. First, transfer every open task to a fresh page in your diary, notebook or calendar. It doesn’t matter if it’s tomorrow, next week or next year. As long as it’s somewhere ahead of today, your mind will begin to relax. Second, and this is the important part, cross out and/or tick off all those incomplete but transferred items from today’s list. Even though there is more work to be done (and isn’t there always?), seeing that completely crossed out list is the vital cue our mind needs to punch out, kick off it’s work boots and shift gears to recreation mode.
It’s an oh-so-simple mind-hack, and it works.
Now if you’re not a to-do list aficionado, you’ll need a slightly different approach. Let’s face it. Some of us make lists and use them, others make lists and lose them. Some folks prefer a more flexible approach to life, and to-do lists can feel too confining. They like to keep plans to a minimum, go with the flow and stay open to respond to whatever happens next.
If that’s you, then don’t kid yourself. The absence of a formal to-do list does not negate the Zeigarnik effect. In fact, it may even make it worse. All those tasks and deadlines may not be itemised neatly in a notebook, but they are just as real to your overtaxed subconscious as the random post-it notes on your monitor and hastily scribbled notes littering your desk.
To scratch your nagging cognitive itch, non to-do listers will find welcome relief in what Gretchen Rubin calls a ‘Ta-Da!’ list.
For go-with-the-flow people, a to-do list is a needless constraint. A stress-inducing piece of paper that can never fully account for all the things you will actually do in your day. A Ta-Da list is the exact opposite.
Start with a blank piece of paper (or e-version substitute). Write ‘Ta-Da!’ at the top of the page. Go about your business. Every time you do something, note what you did. No matter how big or small, significant or otherwise, every action you take and task you complete, write it down. And I do mean everything. Calls, emails, coffee breaks, work tasks, non-work tasks, distractions, conversations, meals, productive, non-productive, anything you do – make a note.
Ta-Da! Light-hearted fanfare to call attention to something remarkable.
At the end of the day, everything on your Ta-Da list is something you did. It helps you see exactly what you have done rather than focusing on what still remains hanging. Your brain goes, ‘Wow. Look at that. Everything on this list is done and dusted. How awesome am I?’
It’s the perfect antidote to the Zeigarnik effect.
The benefits of a Ta-Da list are many. Here are just a few:
- Helps us recognise and celebrate our wins, however small.
- We can pat ourselves on the back (or give ourselves a more indulgent treat) to appreciate a job well done.
- Celebrating motivates. We’re encouraged by how far we’ve come, and more inspired to keep going.
- We realise we’re more productive than we thought.
- We achieved some cool stuff, despite a bunch of set-backs, interruptions and distractions.
- We still managed to enjoy ourselves and go with the flow.
Most importantly, a Ta-Da list has no left-over tasks to niggle your unconscious. Every loop is closed and safely tucked away. You can cheerfully cross out every item, crumple it up and shoot a neat three-pointer into the bin. Your Ta-Da list is your reason to feel great about your day. If you’re a forward planner, your Ta-Da list is perfect for reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, what can we build on or improve next time. And if your evening routine includes a gratitude practice, then your Ta-Da list is fertile ground to cherry pick from.
Either way, to-do list, ta-da list, tomato, tomahto. The point is, whatever system you choose to track your way through a day, make sure it’s all checked off and tuck away when you shut your laptop and turn off your phone. Zeigarnik be gone.
In an age of always-on productivity and 24/7 hustle, we need to remember our own humanity. Busy may be the new black, but our minds are not computers. They are organic. One part of an integrated carbon based life-support system that ebbs and flows with emotions, feelings, fluctuating energy levels and complex physiological and social needs.
So do yourself a kindness and bed down all your open loops. Look how far you’ve come. Focus on what you’ve accomplished. Validate and celebrate. Call attention to something remarkable. You did good. You added value to the world. You made a difference. Honour that. Then go relax, you’ve earned it.
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