The Zeigarnik Effect on Health and Productivity Within the Addiction Context
A fresh perspective on phone and social media addiction and their effects on our health, well-being, and productivity with takeaways
Several years back, I found myself in a rather intriguing situation at work. I was chatting one-on-one with a colleague I oversaw from a functional management perspective. It was clear to me that things weren’t quite right with her — her health was showing signs of strain.
Her once-robust productivity had taken a nosedive. Recognizing the need for some mentorship, her HR manager also stepped in and asked me to offer my mentorship guidance to her. I was happy to do that.
As we sat down for what should have been a straightforward technical briefing, things took an unexpected turn. I walked her through the ins and outs of a new project for which she was coming on board.
However, something peculiar happened — she glanced at her phone every minute. Curious, I gently asked if she was expecting an urgent call.
She denied it, yet a flicker of guilt crossed her face. That very expression held the first hint of a much deeper story involving stress and its covert effects.
In my role as her functional manager and mentor, I decided to delve deeper, wanting to understand her perspective on taking the reins as a team leader for this exciting project — an area she was highly knowledgeable in.
She acknowledged the potential for personal growth that came with the opportunity, yet she hesitated to commit fully. I wanted to understand the reason without intruding on her privacy.
She confessed to grappling with multiple unfinished projects that were consistently niggling at her. It was like a puzzle slowly coming together — her hesitation was the second clue, unveiling a phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik Effect that I discovered during my cognitive science studies.
After mentoring her for many sessions and helping her to defeat social media addiction, I referred her to my trusted and experienced psychiatrist and psychotherapist friend, Janine, to support her. Using her well-proven therapies, Janine fixed this colleague's situation and helped her to be healthier and more productive.
After this background, in this article, I briefly introduce the Zeigarnik Effect and discuss how it can affect our health and productivity with some examples without going into scientific, technical, or theoretical details.
An Overview of the Zeigarnik Effect on Health and Productivity
The Zeigarnik Effect is a psychological phenomenon that was first described by Dr. Bluma Zeigarnik, a Russian psychologist, in the 1920s.
Dr Zeigarnik noticed an interesting pattern while observing waitstaff at a restaurant. She observed that they remembered incomplete orders better than completed ones.
This observation led her to study an interesting psychological phenomenon that later became known as the Zeigarnik Effect globally and was cited by many scientists as a prominent theory.
As it turns out, her stories are linked in multiple ways and together provide a compelling portrait of a time and place in the history of psychological science. As a woman in research at a time when men dominated the field, Dr. Zeigarnik survived and thrived.
The Zeigarnik Effect revolves around the idea that our brains tend to remember and prioritize incomplete or interrupted tasks over completed ones. In other words, things that we’ve started but haven’t finished occupy our thoughts more than those we’ve completed.
This difficult situation creates mental tension, a kind of cognitive discomfort, if you will. This cognitive tension urges us to complete those tasks to resolve the tension and achieve a sense of closure.
Theoretically, the Zeigarnik Effect has been studied extensively in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and cognitive science. The mental framework sheds light on how our minds process and organize information.
The effect is rooted in the concept of cognitive dissonance, which is the discomfort we experience when there is a mismatch between our thoughts and behaviors.
In the case of the Zeigarnik Effect, unfinished tasks create a discrepancy between what we have started and what we have completed, leading to cognitive tension.
So, the Zeigarnik Effect happens when our brains get fixated on things we have started but have not finished yet. For example, when we start reading an exciting book, we cannot stop thinking about it until we have finished it.
Imagine you are watching a TV show, and it’s time for a break. If the episode ends on a cliffhanger, you will probably spend the break wondering what will happen next.
So, the book and TV situation are examples of the Zeigarnik effect in action. Our brains don’t like unfinished tasks and keep nagging us to complete what we have started until we really finalize it.
This effect isn’t just about TV shows or books. It happens with tasks in our daily lives, too. Have you ever felt a strong urge to finish something you have started, even if it’s unimportant?
That’s the Zeigarnik effect, telling subliminally your brain to pay attention to the unfinished task. Unfortunately, many of us are not tuned to these subtle signals from the cognitive and subconscious mind.
In this modern world where technological devices and applications proliferate, the Zeigarnik effect is cleverly used to keep us engaged for profitability. As a technologist and scientist, I observed it firsthand.
So, the Zeigarnik effect is, by design, embedded in the products and offerings. Technology designers use this psychological phenomenon to keep clients busy with their services. Unfortunately, the public is unaware of it.
For example, have you noticed how some games and apps give us goals or tasks to complete? They know that once we have started something, our brain wants to finish it. This can make us spend more time using the game or the app because the brain needs to finish those tasks.
So, the Zeigarnik effect is about how our brains fixate on tasks we can’t finish. It’s like a mental nudge that keeps reminding us to complete what we have started. My goal is to make you aware of this mental situation.
You can learn more about the addictive features of Social Media and mobile phone apps from this Outstanding paper in MDPI’s Environment Research and Public Health Journal.
As mentioned in the paper currently, about 2.71 billion people worldwide use smartphones, which have brought benefits but also raised concerns due to potential issues from excessive usage.
Surprisingly, the leading cause of this excess isn’t the phones themselves but rather how we use the apps on them. Many apps are designed to keep us using them a lot, often to collect our personal information in return for free access.
This is seen in features within social media apps and games that encourage prolonged usage. The study examines these features and identifies tactics that apps use to engage us, drawing on psychological and economic concepts.
These include making us repeatedly see things, valuing items more because we own them, feeling a need to complete tasks, and comparing ourselves to others.
While understanding the individual impact of these tactics is challenging due to limited access to app developers’ data, the study emphasizes the importance of considering how apps are designed to keep users engaged.
The researchers suggest that instead of trading personal data for free app access, it might be better to invest in apps that don’t rely on addictive features.
Insights from Cognitive Theories
The Zeigarnik Effect has been associated with several psychological theories and concepts in cognitive science. I summarise them briefly to give you an idea from my literature reviews in the field.
Cognitive Load Theory: This theory explains how our working memory is limited, and unfinished tasks occupy mental space, contributing to cognitive load and reducing our capacity for other tasks.
Mere-Exposure Effect: This effect suggests that we tend to develop a preference for things we are exposed to more frequently. The Zeigarnik Effect aligns with this theory because the more we think about an unfinished task, the more familiar it becomes, which can lead to a heightened desire to complete it.
Endowment Effect: This effect relates to placing a higher value on things we own than on things we don’t. The Zeigarnik Effect taps into this concept by making us feel a sense of ownership over the tasks we have started, motivating us to finish them.
Goal Theory: The Zeigarnik Effect is closely tied to our pursuit of goals. Unfinished tasks create a sense of goal-incompleteness, which motivates us to resolve that incompleteness by completing the task.
Understanding the history and background of the Zeigarnik Effect provides insight into human cognition and behavior. It has implications for task management, motivation, and decision-making, and it has been applied in various fields, including education, marketing, and user experience design.
From my observations and experience, the optimal way to defeat the Zeigarnik Effect is to meditate and work in a flow state. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can also help.
Conclusions
The Zeigarnik Effect has implications for both our health and productivity. Understanding how it works can help us make better choices and decisions in our personal lives and as a society.
The Zeigarnik Effect makes us more focused on tasks that we’ve started but not completed. This heightened attention can be harnessed to enhance productivity. However, it can also lead to mental clutter and cognitive load if we have too many unfinished tasks on our minds.
On the flip side, the effect can cause procrastination. We might delay starting a task because our brain knows that once we start, we will feel compelled to finish it. This can result in putting off important tasks.
Having many unfinished tasks can lead to stress and mental overload. Our minds keep reminding us of what needs to be completed, even when we are trying to relax, switch tasks, or focus on something else.
The Zeigarnik Effect can affect not only our productivity but also our mental health and physical well-being. When we’re constantly thinking about unfinished tasks, we might struggle to fully enjoy our leisure time or engage in activities that promote relaxation.
We have societal responsibility.
App developers can consider the Zeigarnik Effect when designing features that encourage user engagement. While it’s important to keep users engaged, ethical considerations should guide the extent to which these features are used.
In workplaces, balancing tasks and ensuring that employees have time for relaxation can reduce stress caused by the constant pull of unfinished tasks, leading to the Zeigarnik Effect.
Educating workers about the Zeigarnik Effect and its impact on productivity, health, and well-being can empower them to manage their tasks more effectively.
Society should promote open discussions about stress and mental load. Mental health support services can help people cope with the pressure created by the Zeigarnik Effect.
Understanding the Zeigarnik Effect allows us to manage its impact on our lives. By employing personal strategies and considering its influence on a societal level, we can leverage its potential for productivity while mitigating its negative effects on our mental well-being.
Here are a few personal strategies to defeat the Zeigarnik Effect.
We need to recognize the tasks that truly matter and prioritize them. Completing high-priority tasks will give our brains and minds a sense of accomplishment and reduce the cognitive load.
If a task seems overwhelming, you may break it down into smaller, manageable steps. This way, we might experience a sense of completion more frequently, motivating us to keep going.
You may write down tasks in a checklist that need to be done. As you complete them, you can check them off. The act of physically crossing items off a list can provide a sense of closure for the mind.
You may use the Pomodoro technique (working in focused intervals followed by short breaks), which can help you manage your time effectively while minimizing the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Sobaan Saeed wrote a helpful story about dealing with addiction, reflecting on his experience in How to Break Your Phone Addiction and Take Back Control of Your Life.
I have written numerous stories about addiction, but the most important one is understanding the concept of ΔFosB within the brain’s reward system (dopamine).
Thank you for engaging with my insights. My best wishes for your journey toward a healthy and joyful life.
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