Usually, the most difficult part of a task is getting started.
It isn’t the heavy dumbbells or evil cardiovascular machines that prevent most of us from exercising ? it’s the whole “putting on pants and driving to the gym” thing that derails us. Once we’re there, we’re good.
Getting started is often the hardest part of large tasks, too.
My wife and I bought a fixer-upper home in need of many renovations. It wasn’t the new roof that bogged us down. It wasn’t the landscaping. It wasn’t the kitchen remodel, the bathroom overhaul, or the two A/C units in need of repair. It was the one guest bedroom we wanted to paint.
Once that first job was completed, we were gung-ho to finish the rest.
Ever wonder why we behave this way?
Psychologists call it the Zeigarnik effect.
Basically, the desire to finish what we start is ingrained in each of us. If we start a task, we’re compelled to finish it. And until we do, we can’t stop thinking about it.
University of Mississippi researchers studied the Zeigarnik effect back in 1982. They gave participants in the study a puzzle and asked them to complete it. But before anyone could finish, the participants were told to stop.
“You’re off the hook,” the researches basically told them. “You can all go home now.”
Except most of the participants didn’t go home. Most of them stayed to complete the puzzle.
Using The Zeigarnik Effect For Your Blog or Business
Ready to put the Zeigarnik effect to good use? Here are two ideas:
Use The Zeigarnik Effect To Roundhouse Kick Procrastination
If the desire to finish what we start is ingrained in our DNA, we need to use it to our advantage.
How many of us put off things because they seem too big? How many of us put off things because we don’t know where to start?
Start small.
If you’ve been putting off writing that epic guest post that will put your name on the map, just write the first paragraph. Or choose a title. Or maybe email that first “expert” you want to interview for it.
You don’t have to write the whole thing right now, today. Just start something today. The Zeigarnik effect will compel you to keep going.
Use The Zeigarnik Effect To Hook Your Readers
Though his writings were later published as novels, back in the day the works of Charles Dickens were printed episodically in magazines.
So desperate to discover what happened next, his fans would wait on the dock of New York Harbor for the latest installment to arrive!
Today, you see this practice used a lot in TV shows. Every season finale is a cliffhanger.
As bloggers, we can use the power of anticipation to build excitement in our own content. We could write a series of related posts. We could tease something in one post that won’t be revealed until another.
Or maybe we could…
Creative Commons Image via Joris Louwes.
