Blog Short #206: Get on Top of Unfinished Goals with These Strategies
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Photo by jacoblund, Courtesy of iStock Photo
Do you have too much to do? Too many things bouncing around your brain, clamoring for your attention?
If not, I congratulate you. You’ve either figured out a system to manage it all, or you have a more relaxed lifestyle that allows you to do one thing at a time without much stress.
For most of us, the first situation applies. We’re overloaded and have many open loops chronically nagging at us and depleting our energy.
An open loop is a task you know you need to do but have put off, yet it buzzes around in your head like a fly you can’t get rid of.
You might use avoidance as a strategy to deal with it, but that only allows it to nag you louder, and there will be repercussions that might come back to bite you.
The only solution is to figure out how to close the loop.
Today, I’ll give you strategies for managing and closing open loops so you can breathe and regain some control over your workload.
Let’s start with how your brain handles open loops.
The Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik Effect was discovered by psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik in 1927 and later expanded upon by other researchers who sought ways to use it.
Essentially, it refers to our tendency to remember unfinished or uninterrupted tasks more easily than completed ones.
Your brain hangs on to things you haven’t completed and keeps reminding you of them.
Sometimes, the reminders are loud and continuous, and sometimes, they sink into your subconscious, so they aren’t readily available, but they drain your energy all the same.
You get an email from your boss about a report that’s due, but you have to go to a meeting. While at the meeting, you ruminate about the work you need to do on the report and only half-listen to the discussion.
Or you’re cooking dinner but worrying about where you’ll find the time to participate in a project you signed up for at your daughter’s school.
Each time you remember an open loop, you get a jolt of stress (or arousal).
Depending on how long the loop’s been open and how urgent it is, you may have strong emotional reactions such as resentment or shame.
It doesn’t matter whether you think you shouldn’t be thinking about it now; it’s still there and will keep nagging you until you pay attention.
Your brain won’t let you off the hook. It may play hide-and-seek with you, but that’s not helping you either.
Outside of the obvious – just do it – how can you handle these open loops?
There are two ways to approach it. One is to close the loop, and the other is to manage it. Let’s review these and make a plan.
Week One: Close Loops
This first week, you’re going to focus on closing loops. Follow these steps.
Step #1: Conduct an inventory.
The first thing to do is take a thorough inventory of all the loops you have open. You might want to resist doing that because it feels overwhelming, but you’ll be more overwhelmed and use more energy trying to keep your mind off them.
Write them all down and see what they look like on paper (or on a screen). It’s better to know and see the whole picture at once so you can start dismantling the load and get some relief.
Step #2: Close easy loops.
Identify the loops that you can quickly close. This will include the following:
- Tasks you can do in less than an hour from beginning to end. Start with the easiest and fastest ones – those you can do in ten minutes.
- Things you decide you don’t want to do because you’ve either lost interest or it’s something you don’t need to do. Maybe you can delegate it. Let it go and take it off your list (and out of your head).
The point of this step is to prune your list as much as possible so that only the things you truly need to do or want to do remain.
Step #3: Go for quantity.
See how many loops you can close in a week. Spend this first week only doing that. You can leave the more complex loops on your list for now, but this first step is to get that list down.
Week Two: Set up a management system.
For this part, you’ll learn how to use the Zeigarnik Effect to your advantage.
Because your brain keeps returning to open loops, it can help you reach your goals because it’s harder to let go of them. However, you have to do this in a way that doesn’t deplete you or cause too much stress.
That sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But when done right, it works. Here are the steps to succeed.
Step #1: Define the goal.
For open loops requiring more time than those you closed up in the first week, use this process:
- Start by defining the goal and what it will look like when finished. Finished means all the actions have been completed, and you can cross the goal off your list and forget it.
- Begin with loops that are more pressing that you need to do sooner. We’ll get to long-term goals in a bit.
Step #2: Divide into smaller tasks.
Next, break your goals into small tasks and schedule them. Scheduling means writing them on a list, calendar, or both. If you don’t do that, you’re more likely not to complete the task or not do it at all.
Be specific.
If you’ve read many of my other blogs on productivity, you already know this strategy. Essentially, you’re setting up small, doable goals you can complete.
Once you’ve listed and scheduled everything, leave it.
The beauty of doing this is that once you have your list made and scheduled, you no longer need to repeatedly obsess about it to keep a handle on it. That’s what’s so stressful.
Why This Works
Here’s how the Zeigarnik Effect helps you with this method:
Each task is a single loop. By starting and finishing one task at a time, you close the loop, which feels good. You can mark off your list.
But because there are more tasks (more loops) ahead, your brain keeps you alerted and helps you continue.
In this way, the Zeigarnik Effect helps you build momentum, and your motivation to finish strengthens.
For example, if you need to study for an exam, breaking up your study sessions over days helps you retain the information better than cramming it all into one lengthy session.
Each study session is a single loop you close. And because you have more studying ahead, your brain keeps you primed for learning and remembering, which motivates you to keep closing loops. That’s why breaking large tasks into smaller ones is such an effective strategy.
What about big loops that I don’t need to close immediately?
When you do your initial inventory of open loops in the first step, divide your loops into several categories, such as:
- Easy to close: Less than an hour.
- Time constricted: Must close within a specific time frame. These would include more urgent loops.
- Long-term: Goals you need to finish at some later date. You can still create a task list for these goals and schedule them over an extended period of time.
- Deferred: You have things you need to do, but there is no urgency, and they aren’t taking up much brain space. Place these on your deferred list, and you can move them up when you have the time and are ready to tackle them.
- Ongoing goals with no end: Create loops you can keep closing. Otherwise, you’ll lag and feel dissatisfied with your progress.
Having your loops categorized this way helps to keep your brain less cluttered and more efficient.
Review your entire list once a week to ensure you haven’t missed anything or need to move something up.
When you have a sound system in place to minimize open loops, you’ll not only be less stressed but also enjoy working more. You’ll have more downtime and the emotional energy to savor your accomplishments.
That’s all for today!
Have a great week!
All my best,
Barbara
P.S. If procrastination is an ongoing problem, read Do the Work by Steven Pressfield. It’s very short and to the point.