So I have ironically created a Zeigarnik effect surrounding my interest in reading an article about the Zeigarnik effect. “It sort of stays spinning in your brain,” she says, like a nagging sensation.”
Your workdone windows#
Which projects were those, again? I’d have to check my Trello board, which meant–oh, shoot! I forgot about that project.įinally, five weeks into this all-consuming anticipation of article browsing, I read the article. “The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon which asserts that our brains tend to hold onto tasks that it considers “incomplete.” Jennifer Deal, a senior research scientist for the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California, says the way the brain perceives tasks can be thought of like opening and closing windows - and it notices when the window is still open. The idea that this article needed my attention was somewhat consuming, and I began to think about times in my schedule in which I could carve out 15 minutes for reading.Īs I reflected on my calendar and when I could commit to opening this bookmark that judgingly glares back at me, begging to be read, I remembered some other projects that demanded my time. ‘I wonder what the annoying cognitive habit actually is?’ I mused. ‘There is probably a lot that I can learn from this annoying habit!’ I considered.
Your workdone free#
And not just any bookmark, a new bookmarks folder on my bookmarks tab so that I could always be reminded that it was there awaiting my free time.įor three more weeks, I thought a lot about this article. ‘I should really read that article!’ I thought.
I was flustered as I tried to remember the name of the article and, once I did, I decided that this one needed a bookmark. A couple of weeks passed, and my Chrome app crashed.
Over the next few days, I knew that I wouldn’t have time to read it so I moved it from a tab to its own window–I could just minimize the window, and then I’d remember to read it later.
I recently saw an article about “The Annoying Cognitive Habit That Makes You Feel Like Your Work Is Never Done,” and I thought, ‘Hmm, I need to read this,’ So I left it open in a tab on my Chrome window to remind me to do so later in the day.
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