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How to break bad habits
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The brain is obsessed with unfinished tasks
When we have unfinished tasks, we think about them continuously. But the moment they are completed, we forget about them. If we have unread email, we constantly wonder what it says. But once it has been dealt with, we often cannot recall the details of it.
The name for this phenomena is called the Zeigarnik effect and named after Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik.
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How to capitalize on the Zeigarnik effect
- Reduce your tendency to procrastinate. If you have a task you've been avoiding, begin with the smallest thing to be done. The desire to close the loop will help you take small steps to get it done.
- Get people to take note of what you're saying. Try...
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Incomplete tasks: What happens inside the brain
Once our brain receives information, it temporarily stores sensory memory (sight, hearing, smells, taste, and touch). If we pay attention to the information, it moves to our short-term memories.
If the task is incomplete, our brains can't let it go until it's done. That i...
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The Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik effect is our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks easier than completed tasks.
At first, the Zeigarnik Effect seems handy: We remember the things we still need to do.
- But each incomplete task divides your focus, making it harder ...
The Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik effect is our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks easier than completed tasks.ο»Ώ
At first, the Zeigarnik Effect seems handy: We remember the things we still need to do.ο»Ώ
β’ But each incomplete task divides your focus, making it hard...
Stop Before Youβre Finished
Studies indicate that the Zeigarnik Effect is real. It says you are more likely to recall uncompleted tasks than completed ones.
Knowing this pattern of our brains, we can trick it by forcing cliffhangers when weβre reading books. Itβs hard to stop reading in the most inte...
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