Episode 40.5 - Minipod on The Zeigarnik Effect; Why Your Brain Clings to Unfinished Tasks

26/11/2025 5 min

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Episode Synopsis

Ever sat down to relax only to be ambushed by a mental to-do list you didn’t ask for? That’s the Zeigarnik Effect in action and in this mini episode, Kathy gets into it.Named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, this psychological quirk explains why your brain keeps circling back to things you haven’t finished (like that half-written proposal… or the dentist form from three weeks ago).In this short and sweet episode, Kathy explores:Why your brain holds onto open tasks like it’s running its own internal tab managerHow writing things down can calm your mindThe surprisingly motivating power of starting just a littleAnd the joy of telling your brain “shutdown complete”If you’re feeling a bit scattered or find yourself thinking about emails at 2AM, this one’s for you.

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