The Zeigarnik Effect

The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenal that can teach you a little something about how to settle your unsettled mind.

How to break those thought loops, cut the chord, so you can start thinking forward again

In essence, the Zeigarnik effect suggests that there is a tendency for your brain to remember and prioritise, interrupted or incomplete tasks.

The implication is, if you’ve got something that’s unresolved, your brain just won’t let it go.

That’s the relationship status that’s complicated

The job search that’s waning

The new project you started but never finished

The lifestyle changes you set out to make but didn’t follow through on

The conversation you know needs to be had, but you’ve been avoiding

It’s also hesitation,

Delaying or procrastinating

Not making a decision or delivering on a promise

It could be an idea or opinion that hasn’t been fully formed, or properly thought through

And so it goes on.

The point is that your mind craves certainty;

The need for certainty is a survival mechanism that’s ingrained in all of us.

Uncertainty, ambiguity or lack of clarity is processed as a potential threat; because you just don’t know what could be lurking around the corner.

With our caveman ancestors, this could have been a saber-toothed tiger!