{"id":236320,"date":"2024-03-11T14:08:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T18:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/?p=236320"},"modified":"2024-04-20T15:23:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T19:23:06","slug":"the-zeigarnik-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/the-zeigarnik-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The Zeigarnik Effect: The Reason You Feel Constantly Overwhelmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"Psychologist Explains Why You Feel Overwhelmed All The Time\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FhM4YVG4LIA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know how having too many open Chrome tabs bogs your computer down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same happens to your brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfinished tasks keep &#8220;running&#8221; in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It&#8217;s called the Zeigarnik Effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how it works and what to do about it&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick History of the Zeigarnik Effect:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Zeigarnik Effect is named after <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bluma_Zeigarnik\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Bluma Zeigarnik<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While sitting in a busy restaurant in Vienna, she noticed the servers had better memories of unpaid orders vs. paid ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the customers paid, the servers struggled to remember the exact details of the orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because our brains are wired to remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like a to-do list, once we finish a task, our brain checks it off to free up mental bandwidth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this also means that, the more unfinished tasks we have, the more resources our brain dedicates to keeping track of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of the Zeigarnik Effect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Zeigarnik Effect is why storytellers use cliffhangers. <\/strong>We keep reading\/watching to find out what happens next because our brains are <em>driven <\/em>to seek closure. Once resolved, we can forget and move on. Until then, we lean in with rapt attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Zeigarnik Effect is why we suck at &#8220;multi-tasking.&#8221;<\/strong> What most people call &#8220;multi-tasking&#8221; is actually what psychologists call &#8220;task-switching.&#8221; True multitasking is known as parallel processing\u2014where you simultaneously do multiple things at the exact same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason what most people call multi-tasking isn&#8217;t true parallel processing is because we rapidly switch our attention between different tasks. For example, you can&#8217;t simultaneously check emails and do deep work\u2014you rapidly switch between reading and replying to a few emails, then switch back to working on your &#8220;main&#8221; task for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because when we&#8217;re doing something and get interrupted, our brain keeps that &#8220;tab&#8221; open\u2014draining our CPU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Zeigarnik Effect is one reason perfectionists struggle with anxiety.<\/strong> They obsess over details and having unrealistic expectations. Aka, they drown in unfinished tasks. So the Zeigarnik Effect keeps their brains bogged down, poorly focused, and stressed out. They can&#8217;t let things go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Zeigarnik Effect is one reason we struggle to fall asleep.<\/strong> For many of us, bedtime is the one time we&#8217;re not surrounded with distractions. So our brain goes into overdrive refreshing and resurfacing all the tabs we&#8217;ve kept open throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what can you do about the Zeigarnik Effect to stop feeling overwhelmed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strategies to Overcome the Zeigarnik Effect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are three simple strategies that help me overcome the Zeigarnik Effect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ditch the To-Do List<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Switch from a to-do list to a <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/the-needle-movers-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Needle Movers List<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To-do lists are never-ending. Like fighting a hydra, for every task you complete, two sprout in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Needle Mover list only has the 1-3 highest ROI tasks for the day. Way easier to remember, track, and complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I write mine out on a post-it note on my desk because I can&#8217;t fit much more than a few things on it. Plus, it&#8217;s satisfying to crumple it up and throw it away once I finish them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Give Yourself Permission to Forget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Build what Tiago Forte calls a &#8220;Second Brain,&#8221; which is somewhere you can save information to come back to later. A second brain can be a notebook, a program like Notion (which is what I use), or anything else that works for you. Check out Tiago&#8217;s book, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/43kW3ez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Building a Second Brain<\/a><\/em> (aff) to learn more about how to develop your own system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The more tasks and information you can offload, the fewer your brain will have to constantly monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don&#8217;t build a Second Brain to remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You build it so you can forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stop Overcomplicating Everything<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The more complex something is, the more moving parts you have to keep track of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the simpler you can make a task, the less it&#8217;ll take up your mental bandwidth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A simple question to ask to help you <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/how-to-stop-overcomplicating-everything\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stop overcomplicating everything<\/a> is, &#8220;What is my actual goal here?&#8221; Then only focus on tasks related to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts on the Zeigarnik Effect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Zeigarnik Effect unintentionally forces our brain to dedicate more memory and attention to unfinished tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you want to improve your focus and free up your memory, minimize and offload unfinished tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That way, you can stop bogging your brain down with remembering unfinished tasks and use it for what it&#8217;s best at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being creative, solving problems, and understanding complex ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">P.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ve probably heard of Shiny Object Syndrome and how it causes distractions. But have you heard of Shiny Object Syndrome&#8217;s little brother, Yak Shaving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check <a href=\"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/yak-shaving\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">out this article<\/a> next to learn what it is and how it keeps you constantly distracted&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-black-background-color has-black-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s why your brain feels like you&#8217;re running too many open tabs at the same time&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ub_ctt_via":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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why your brain feels like you're running too many open tabs at the same 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