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Thinking about the last bill to settle, the shopping list to complete, the household chores that await us when we get home… All these tasks that we have in mind and that accumulate can lead to burnout. Explanations.
The zeigarnik effect is the tendency to better remember a task that one has started and which has been interrupted. “Even without knowing the name, many people suffer from it“, analyzes the psychologist Amélia Lobbé, author of the book “Overcoming depression and burn-out” (Editions Leduc).
What is the Zeigarnik effect?
The Zeigarnik effect is the legacy of psychologist Bljuma Zeigarnik who theorized it in the 1920s. Sitting at a cafe table, she noticed that waiters are able to take complex orders and then remember them until to cashing orders. Then that information comes out of their mind. She confirms this intuition with a clinical study.
According to Isabelle Rouleau, professor in the psychology department of the University of Quebec in Montreal, questioned by the Montreal Journalthis effect is explained by the fact thatwhen we carry out an action, we expect there to be a conclusion. If we are interrupted in the middle, the action continues to roll in our head because it is not completed, it has not changed box. The more people are conscientious and want to complete their task, the greater the tension. Their stress will only end once the mission is complete.”.
Social pressure contributes to this phenomenon
How do you know if you have this disorder? “Tendency to fail to disconnect from work and feeling pressured because you can’t finish everything are symptoms“, explains Amélia Lobbé. But this can also apply to everyday life. Dealing with administrative documents for example, or even planning vacations. This accumulation “can lead to burnout“.
This disorder is particularly driven by social pressure which pushes each person to multiply activities, at the risk of not finishing any of them. “Children can suffer too“, warns Amélia Loubbé, who advises parents not to overload their children’s schedules. “It is better to devote yourself to one activity fully than to do four halfway“, she explains.
Choose the right method of organization
This disorder particularly affects disorganized people. The professional encourages the practice of “batch working”, an organizational method. The idea is to condense an activity over a given period. For example, setting two hours on Saturday morning to do the paperwork. “It frees your mind and saves time.“, explains the specialist.
The second solution proposed by the psychologist is to use the “Kanban method”. Again, this is a method of organization. The idea is to create a table with three columns”to do – in progress – finished“. Then list the things to do there by re-committing them in order of progress. This table can be done on a computer or on a sheet. Finally, Amélia Lobbé advises “to disconnect and learn to compartmentalize your private life and your professional life“. She encourages you to feel kindness towards her and relearn to be passionate about her personal life.