Zeigarnik Effect
Our minds quickly forget finished tasks. However, they are programmed to continually interrupt us with reminders of unfinished tasks. These intrusions constitute the Zeigarnik effect.
The Zeigarnik effect is the name given to a psychological/cognitive phenomenon whereby a person’s ability to carry out a task measurably diminishes as a result of the residual interference of an unfinished task (or thought). For me…
memories
words
proper nouns
metaphors
stories my daughters tell me
possible inventions
badly composed news headlines
product taglines
tacky song lyrics
words I hear coming out of the mouths of people around me
Stuff like that ☝️gets in my head, and takes up residence right alongside genuine tasks/household chores. And if I don’t somehow force closure on this nonsense, I wind up burning through CPU cycles haunted by the residue of pointless enigmas, just ricocheting around inside my skull, occupying real estate that could be put to better use.
My countermeasure: Lists
I write down lists – lots of them – to get things out of my head, and into a system. Kind of like the ghostbusters’ use of containment units. That is my primary use of Evernote: as a palliative to the Zeigarnik effect, squarely aimed at caging the goofy things that wind up getting into my thoughts. Below are a few examples.
Examples
1. Things said by a real kid named “Vince”
Vince was one of my daughters’ classmates during the third grade. I never met him, but was told he liked saying strange and funny things. I imagine most boys have a thought process very similar to Vince’s. I just couldn’t wrap my head around any of it – not for a lack of trying.
“A sumo wrestler can actually lift a blue whale.
The only thing an idiot knows is one plus one equals two.”
2. Things said by Vince’s teacher, Mr. M***z
Mr. M***z was a substitute teacher in the New York City school system in the year 2015. I met him once, and clocked him as a man who enjoyed providing off-the-cuff color commentary. Whether or not he’s still employed by the department of education or spending time in the rubber room, I can’t say. But the quotes are accurate.
“When you talk with your friends at school, you steal your parents’ dreams.
Everyone - pull up a chair and gather round in a circle. We’re going to spend the first 5 minutes of class talking about me.
I am like, a great runner. I run an hour a day.
I am very good at ping pong. In fact, I won many ping pong trophies and awards.
I have many friends who all went to the top schools. TOP SCHOOLS. They all grew up to be nothing. I grew up to be something.
My best friend went to one of the best art schools. And you know what he became? A security guard at a museum. Which is the worst! Seeing someone else’s art work displayed, while you’re nothing but a security guard.”
3. Unusual names of real people
Avenue Meyers - a worker on the Casad farm, located in Madras, Oregon who hauls equipment parts
Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck (PHD recipient from Beloit, WI. Her dissertation was on uncommon African Americans names. She currently lives in Chicago, IL.)
Creflo Dollar - American televangelist and founder of the non-denominational World Changers Church International based in College Park, Georgia. His face regularly appeared in New York City subway print advertising on the 4, 5, and 6 trains between the years 2001 and 2010.
Bunny Mellon - famed landscape designer and BFF to Jackie Kennedy.
Maynard Von Spiegelfeld - manager of Pizitz, Alabama dept. store where Roy Moore, former Alabama Senator (R) stalked teenagers.
Flint Dibble - An archaeologist who focuses on food from the Classical Greek world. This guy has an amazing web site.
Dick Trickle - Nascar driver who, for many years, raced around the “short tracks” of Wisconsin.
Danger Fourpence - pro soccer player from Zimbabwe whose twitter feed is littered with adorable typos such as… “Danger be on de move to london”
Lavoy Finicum - man killed by the FBI during a car chase that followed an armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Pinchas Bard Wigdor - insurance adjustor in Brooklyn, NY who handled my basement flood claim in 2013.
Tinsley Mortimer - New York City socialite who has regularly appeared on the TV show Real housewives of New York City.
The Zeigarnik effect in action (for me)
Wife asks for help rearranging some books on a bookshelf
I begin this task. 10 minutes in, as I reach for Where the Red Fern Grows, my daughter calls from downstairs asking for help with her math homework
“Hey dad, can you help me with this math homework?” – sure, sure…
I set aside what I’m doing to do something else, with the full intention of coming back to the bookshelf
I go downstairs, take a look at the homework, and notice linear algebra. Cool!
I take a seat, and start talking about concepts like slope, y-intercept, and various forms of equations
My thoughts return to Where the Red Fern Grows
I recall my fourth grade teacher reading this book to me and my classmates
I remember the day she read the part about Old Dan sacrificing himself to protect Little Ann from a mountain lion – and how I cried; all the kids cried actually
I realize I’m off task, and snap back to math homework
I resume my discussion with my daughter of the concept of a line having undefined slope; of how this is possible
In a nested process – the one from upstairs – I attempt to resurrect a nugget of data associated with my fourth grade teacher –
What was her name – Ms. Bailey!
It occurs to me that my teacher’s first name was Kay. Kay Bailey
This realization spawns a new thread involving the politician Kay Bailey Hutchison. But wait!
Is Kay Bailey Hutchison a Democrat or Republican?
Could the two women be related?
Was my fourth grade teacher’s first name really Kay?
Which nested level am I supposed to be on any way?
‽
The Zeigarnik effect generalized
User engages in Task n (bookshelf)
User is interrupted to start task n+1 (math homework)
User leaves task n in a state of partial completion, and sets task n to task n-1
User prioritizes task n+1 (math homework), and sets it to the new task n (the object of primary focus)
User begins work on the new task n, but is still devoting resources to task n-1 (bookshelf)
User ruminates on task n-1 in an unguided stream-of-consciousness manner, resulting in diminished resources for task n (math homework)
Ruminating on task n-1 results in new tasks being spawned:
task n-2: What was the full name of the fourth grade teacher?
task n-3: Is the politician Kay Bailey Hutchison related in some way to the teacher?
etc…
For each new task arising from ruminating on task n-1, a recursive application of this model on task n-1 results in it becoming a new task n