In 1927, Bluma Zeigarnik, a Russian psychologist, stayed at a Café in Vienna. She noticed during her visit that the waiters remembered every order that was in the process of being served. The completed orders, on the other hand, disappeared from their memory. To investigate this experience, she tested it on her students. They were set to solve a number of different tasks, e.g. put puzzles and put beads on a string. Some tasks they were allowed to complete, others she interrupted when they were most occupied with them. Subsequently, it turned out that the students were twice as good at remembering the unfinished tasks compared to the completed ones.

That's why it works

Based on the study, Zeigarnik concluded that we remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones because our brain has a basic need to finish a task we have been given. Or to put it another way: Unfinished tasks create a kind of tension that seeks to be released, and in order for the release to take place, we need to remember the task. This urge to finish is also the reason why we tune in to soap operas that end with drama and tension with a "stay tuned in the next episode...". Our interest is captured and we cannot relax until the tension is released.

How to use the Zeigarnik effect to become more efficient

The Zeigarnik effect has more uses than just making us watch the next episode of our TV series. Here are four useful tips on how you can use the Zeigarnik effect at your job.

1. When we have to start a major task or a big project, we easily focus on the most difficult parts and therefore risk giving up before we have even started. If you instead starts immediately before you have found a complete solution, you remember the task better and thus increase your chances of solving it.
2. Make it a habit to use the Zeigarnik effect every day: End the day with an unfinished task. This means you don't have to dig up the motivation to start over every morning, instead you can pick up the task where you left off the day before. As a bonus, you can start your working day with the satisfaction of finishing a task quickly and thus the feeling of having achieved something.
3. When you are working on a larger project then stop at a point when you really wanted to continue and do something completely different. During your break, your subconscious will just as quietly figure out how to complete the task. When you return, you will find that you can solve your task more efficiently than if you had not stopped.
4. When you communicate with others, e.g. making a presentation or writing a sales text, you can keep people's interest by give them teasers. In your presentation, you can e.g. say "I'm going to show you three different ways you can motivate yourself, but first..." In a written text, you can do the same: "In a little while I'm going to show you how you can double your income without working more …” That way you grab people's attention and they can't relax until they hear the end.