Zeigarnik effect

Overview

The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon where unfinished tasks tend to stay in memory more than finished ones. Bluma Zeigarnik discovered it through experiments in 1927. The research is said to have been inspired by the way restaurant waiters remembered unpaid orders accurately but quickly forgot orders that had already been paid.

Question boxes and the Zeigarnik effect

This effect tends to come into play when running a question box. When unanswered questions pile up, they can keep nagging at you in the back of your mind. The unfinished feeling of "I still haven't answered that question" can pop into your head while you're studying or before you go to sleep.

On the other hand, once you've finished answering every question, you may feel refreshed. This "sense of release that comes from finishing" is also the flip side of the Zeigarnik effect. The refreshing feeling when the notification badge on your question box hits 0 is what it feels like when that tension is released.

Living with it well

Understanding the Zeigarnik effect can help you rethink how you deal with your question box. Unanswered questions bothering you is a reaction caused by this effect, and it doesn't mean your willpower is weak.

One way to deal with it is to set a time for answering and handle everything at once. Make a rule like "I'll answer for just 30 minutes at 8 p.m. every day," and at other times put things off with "I'll answer later." Explicitly deciding to "skip" questions you won't answer is also a way to consciously mark them as done.