You may not have heard of Bluma Zeigarnik, but she knows what is in your head.
What’s in your head is this: unfinished tasks.
Zeigarnik was a Russian psychologist who noted our brain’s obsession with unfinished tasks. They pop into our memory at inopportune times: in the shower is a common one. Mid-Downward Dog. And, sadly, 3am.
This is called the Zeigarnik effect. Unfinished tasks make you feel unsettled, slightly obsessed. But, when we do stuff, snap. We forget the tasks we have done in a jiffy.
It’s because we evolved before we learned to write a to-do list. We had to remember.
What does that mean for all those authors who start, but do not finish, their book? It means misery. A life of your brain reminding you to get your book done.
I can help with that. I am a self-declared finishing freak. Somewhere along the way, I discovered the remarkable power of finishing, and it’s what I help the authors I coach to do. We get started. We get finished. They become authors, not wannabes.
Finishing is fun.
What have you finished that made you feel exuberant?