How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life pdfdrive com

OUTSOURCE YOUR MEMORY
Because our brain’s working memory is tiny, even small distractions can make it
difficult to concentrate. And thinking about incomplete tasks and concerns
qualifies as a serious distraction, especially if you’re trying to keep track of them
all in your head. You burn a little of your deliberate system’s mental energy
every time you tell yourself, “I must remember to pick up the dry cleaning
today.” That’s why psychologists E. J. Masicampo and Roy Baumeister, at
Florida State University, found that people do less well at solving anagrams and

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logic problems when they’re aware of another activity that’s yet to be
completed.
2
There’s even a term for this phenomenon: the “Zeigarnik effect,”
named after the Russian psychologist who discovered it.
The key to overcoming the Zeigarnik effect is outsourcing some of your basic
memory tasks to a recording device other than your brain to free up space for
real thinking:
Develop a habit of immediately getting worries and work-in-progress
thoughts out of your head and down on “paper”—whether real paper or the
electronic version—so that your brain no longer has to expend energy on
remembering them. (This echoes my advice in 
Chapter 2
on writing down
even your smallest to-dos.)
Consider keeping a notepad or voice recorder anywhere that you find
thoughts often come to mind. Personally, I have a waterproof pad in the
shower, as well as a regular one by my bed and a well-used notepad function
on my phone.
You still have to consider later what to do with each item you write down—
but your work will feel easier once you’re not wasting mental horsepower on
trying to keep everything straight in your mind. Unfinished tasks are like
screaming kindergartners—much easier to handle when you get them to sit down
quietly.