Why do we recall memories into our lives and not others?

• It is said: the unfinished past will find you one day!
• It’s not surprising that this ever happened, if we rethink, we will find that the return of the interrupted past was nothing but the desire of your mind!
• In fact, if any of us go back to our lives, they may find that this applies to them, especially if they leave something with many questions in their heads that they have not found satisfactory answers, or if they struggle at some point to solve something on a practical or social level.
• One of the first to notice this was the Soviet scientist (Bluma Zeigarnik) and her professor Kart Lewin, where Bluma carried out a series of studies that led to the assertion that man remembers events that he was cut off from in the past more than the things he accomplished, and called it the Zeigarnik Effect.

• In the following, we will learn about the Zeigarnik effect, how the work of the mind can be understood through it, and the possibility of investing it in daily life to raise productivity and prioritize.

• What is the Zeigarnik effect?
• Why do we remember things and not others according to the Zeigarnik effect?
• Examples of the Zeigarnik effect
• Romantic relationships and the Zeigarnik effect
• Study and the effect of Zeigarnik
• Why do we feel nervous if unfinished tasks are ignored or postponed?
• Organize daily and weekly work.

• What is the Zeigarnik effect?

The basic concept of the Zeigarnik effect is that the human brain has a greater chance of forgetting completed events and completed tasks than things that are unfinished or interrupted at some point, as these events and tasks remain in human memory until they are completed.

• Why do we remember things and not others according to the Zeigarnik effect?

The scientist Bluma Zeigarnik experimented with this effect in 1927 on a group of people and asked them to do some tasks at specific times such as assembling puzzle pieces, assembling pieces in wooden boxes, interrupting some of their work, while giving them enough time to complete the others, then interviewing each participant individually and asking each of them for precise details of the tasks they had done, and found that they remembered 90% of the details of the work they could not complete compared to the details of the work that had been done.

These results were explained by the fact that a person’s desire to accomplish a task could lead to it being kept in their memory until it was completed, and that the possibility of completing it would give them the opportunity to forget it.

• Examples of the Zeigarnik effect

Examples that illustrate the influence of Zeigarnik in our lives include:

• The student remembers the questions that he did not answer in the exam more than the questions he answered.
• Waiters who work under great pressure remember the orders they prepare to be submitted, and once they are submitted, they forget them, and Bloma Zejjark noticed.
• Service workers remember the work they have done and why they are paid more than the work they have been paid for.
• Incomplete tasks in the field of work remain in the employee’s memory and constitute psychological stress on weekends, leading to sleep impairment, as a result of a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology in 2017.

• Romantic relationships and the Zeigarnik effect

It is the treatment of problems in emotional relationships, as emotional relationships remain in a state of tension, tension, and attraction as long as the two parties have not reached a full understanding (in English: Couple Therapy) In addition to the above examples, the concept of the Zeigarnik effect is used in marital therapy and awareness of what is happening in the relationship, and treatment aims to discuss the outstanding matters and problems between the parties, once discussed and realized the mistakes they made, then this problem will be overcome and forgotten, and each of them will take the lessons learned that contribute to the growth and development of the relationship, Or maybe if they want to break up, the separation will not be dramatic, but will be a positive point in each other’s lives later on.

All of the above examples of the Zeigarnik effect emphasize that man cannot forget certain memories until he understands them, and extracts all the meanings that he can derive from them.

• Study and the effect of Zeigarnik

The idea of interrupting tasks while performing them has been used to improve academic performance; students who take an average break of 15 minutes during study each hour remember the subjects they have studied or memorized more than students who study continuously for hours without a break. Breaks include activities unrelated to study, such as watching TV, sports, or playing.

It must be noted that the degree of remembering varies from one person to another, because of the different motivational aspects of each person, there is a disparity between people’s desires and passion for work, and therefore the results of applying the Zeigarnik effect vary from one person to another, and this aspect was discussed by the American psychologist, John Atkinson in 1953.

• Why do we feel nervous if unfinished tasks are ignored or postponed?

Someone may think that postponing a difficult task will comfort them for a while but vice versa, not finishing a task creates mental stress, making it at the forefront of the things they remember. The only thing that will relieve this stress is to complete the task. Therefore, stress cannot be relieved by simply procrastination or procrastination.

Incomplete and procrastinating tasks often lead to repetitive and unhelpful thought patterns. These thoughts can affect sleep, trigger anxiety symptoms, and further affect a person’s mental and emotional aspects.

Successful completion of tasks gives a sense of accomplishment while increasing self-esteem and self-confidence.

• Organize daily and weekly work.

One of the happiest things an individual has at the end of the day is accomplishing the tasks they have planned in advance.

Daily or weekly tasks are generally divided into three sections: self-care, work or study, and pleasure.

What ensures the completion of all the tasks that the individual has planned to do is the existence of a balance between them, which determines this balance is the degree of satisfaction of the individual; the person knows very well what tends to him and what makes him feel good about himself, and this is one of the most important mental tools that the individual needs before planning a list of tasks, as it will become his guide in his choices over time.

1- Identify 3 or 4 basic sections under which the tasks to be done fall: for example, whether the tasks are related to work or study, self-care, or pleasure.

2- Choosing tasks that can be accomplished according to ability and time: Identifying tasks that exceed the capabilities of the individual exposes him to stress and anxiety later.

3- Write the list of tasks according to importance to the individual, then re-look at it and see if it achieves balance for the person or not.

It must be noted that doing this process continuously, reviewing tasks and knowing the strengths and weaknesses helps to develop in this area, and the individual will have a greater ability to accomplish as many tasks as possible over time.

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