Do you ever find it hard to focus because your brain’s bouncing from task to task? Running through a mental to do list longer than the M6? Cogs cranking into action even during downtime?
You might be experiencing open loop overload.
Open loops are unresolved situations that occupy space in our minds. Perhaps you need to reply to an email, clarify an ambiguous plan with a friend or have a challenging conversation with a colleague. Or you’re tasked with launching a new product or developing next year’s business strategy. No matter how big, small, significant or inconsequential, open loops create cognitive clutter that can negatively impact our ability to perform.
Why? Enter the Ziegarnik Effect, a psychological phenomenon that sheds light on the importance of closure for our mental wellbeing.
Named after Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, the Ziegarnik Effect refers to our tendency to remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. It’s that nagging feeling in the back of your mind when you leave a task unfinished. A mental loop that remains open until closure is achieved.
Operating in a perpetual state of open loops can lead to overwhelm and ultimately exhaustion. It’s the mental equivalent of having fifty tabs open in your browser and being surprised when it slows down and eventually crashes.
The result? We find it hard to focus. We struggle to think clearly and act decisively. Procrastination prevails. If you’re like me, you’ll probably get grumpy too.
Sometimes we need to close some loops to help us focus on the most important things. As well as reducing overwhelm, this can allow our brains to switch off – which is critical, given the importance of rest and renewal to help us perform at our peak.
Try these simple steps to take control of your mental space.
1. Write a list of everything that’s on your mind
The simple act of putting thoughts down on paper will help take them off the ‘I need to remember this’ heap in your head. Plus, a comprehensive to-do list capturing all your tasks creates a roadmap for systematically closing open loops. Schedule a time to deal with each item then forget about them until then.
2. Eliminate tiny tasks with the two-minute rule
We often spend more time thinking about small tasks than actually doing them. So, if something takes less than two minutes to complete, tackle it immediately. Reply to that text. Pay that invoice. Book that restaurant. Don’t let these tiny tasks anywhere near your to-do list, or they’ll occupy more oxygen than they’re worth.
3. Break bigger projects up into multiple parts
Some tasks take days, weeks, months or even years to complete. If these are continually on your mind – even just subconsciously – that’s a big drain on your mental energy. Instead of considering them in their entirety, break them up into smaller, more manageable chunks that you can ‘tick off’ as you go. That way, you can finish one phase and give your brain a break before you move onto the next one.
4. Make decisions quickly
Pending decisions are the ultimate open loops. Like a phone searching for signal at a festival, the constant buffering drains our brains. So, if you have all the information you need to make a decision, make it. And if you don’t, you can still reduce rumination and close the loop for now by making a decision to decide at a later date.
5. Make it someone else’s problem
Finally, if you can, delegate. Share the mental load, whether it’s with your team, a peer or your partner. Delegating can be a two-minute task (see point two!) making this a brilliant way of rapidly reducing the number of open loops you’re entertaining. To truly give your brain a break, outsource problems rather than tasks and ensure your brief is crystal clear.
Often, we struggle to give our brains the breaks that they need. Perhaps you find it hard to make decisions, you keep putting off certain tasks or you struggle to delegate. If you'd like to explore any of these challenges - or others - then get in touch and we can consider how best to approach them.