Harness the Inner Drive: Create Lasting Motivation With the Zeigarnik Effect

Have you ever found yourself unable to stop thinking about something you didn’t finish? Psychologists call this the Zeigarnik Effect—we remember, and are drawn back to, incomplete tasks more than finished ones. This isn't just academic: waiters remember unpaid orders better than completed ones; students recall homework questions they didn't solve. A university professor once asked a prolific colleague how she kept up her writing pace. Her secret? She always ended her workday halfway through a clear idea, never at the end of a paragraph. This way, she woke up eager, with a clear cue to dive back in.

The same technique helps overcome procrastination—by leaving a session open-ended, the mind keeps chewing on the 'unfinished business'. The urge to gain closure becomes a quiet, powerful motivator, calling you back even when you’d rather stay on the couch. Classroom teachers also use this principle: introducing a mystery story or unfinished challenge at the start of a lesson holds students’ attention, drives curiosity, and boosts memory for the material.

If you shape your workflow or your team’s tasks around the Zeigarnik Effect, you’ll find sustained energy instead of the drag of fresh starts.

Try ending your next work session in the middle of a task or idea—not when you naturally reach a stopping point. Write a short note about the very next thing to tackle. Let the unfinished thread tug at your mind, so when you return, you’ll jump back in with focus instead of resistance. This little bit of intentional 'incompleteness' may just become your best strategy for creative momentum.