Developing Soft Skills and Personality

Prof. T. Ravichandran
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Lecture – 17
Habits: Using the Zeigarnik Effect for Productivity and Personal Growth

Hi! Hello everyone. Welcome back to NPTEL MOOCs course on Developing Soft Skills
and Personality. We are on the third week, and then we are on the last two lectures of
this week's modules and this week particularly, I have been focusing on habits and in the
last lecture, I introduced a new term, and then we will continue with this Zeigarnik
effect. But, then let us try to look at this effect, and see how we can use this for
productivity and personal growth.

This is module-5, and totally this is going to be the 17th lecture you’ve been watching. I
hope you are enjoying watching these lectures and as usual I would like to begin with the
quick highlight of what I did in the last lecture. In case, you have forgotten, you can just
take a quick recapture of what we did in the previous one.

(Refer Slide Time: 01:13)

The most important question that I asked in the last lecture is— Why is that some are
able to change their habits in a lightening second and others are not able to do in ages?
Why even if you want to take lot of efforts, you are not able to change some of the habits
and then somebody else is changing it so quickly. And I said that, the answer lies
actually in the way Dopamine is functioning and the way we are utilizing it to make or
mare ourselves using good or bad habits. Now, apart from that, some people are able to
change quickly, it is because that, they have increased the level of self awareness, we
started the introductive lecture with aspects of self awareness and then if you have gone
through that, you are already on the way of heightening yourself awareness. Then we
also talked about perceptions, so about correct perceptions of reality, also makes you
access, what is a good habit and what is a bad habit. And, last but not the least; you
should be able to use Dopamine in a very constructive manner because Dopamine plays
a very crucial role in forming addictive habits.

Now, bad habits are usually formed in those circumstances, where it is easy to seek
pleasure, by which you are also able to avoid painful or disagreeable experiences—at
least for the time being! This means, on the one hand, you are able to seek very nice
activities, that gives you instantaneous pleasure, and the same time you are able to avoid
something you think is disagreeable. Take for example, just not seeing somebody or not
trying to do an activity, the other thing you do, okay, you just go and then join a party,
enjoy the party, for some time it is a birthday party, and then you just freak out and your
mind is completely out of the tension that is involved in complying thing that
disagreeable activity which you don’t want to do at that time.

And then, I talked about this Zeigarnik effect, which actually highlights a compulsive
need to complete. It’s in fact is called as the motivation molecule that’s responsible for
our brain, to actually secrete this, which is responsible for giving us this pleasure, either
in terms of rewarding or not giving us in terms of punishing us. Okay!

Now, the thing about this Dopamine is, it actually doesn’t know whether you are using a
good habit or bad habit to induce it. Now, I then said that we can use this psychological
understanding to look at why we are not able to come out of emotional break ups,
because any emotional relationship that you are involved in, it actually associates you
with lot of activities which are planned and lot of activities which have started. But,
when there is a break up suddenly, so it leaves one with lot of incomplete tasks. Hence
the disharmony or the dissonance the person feels. Now how you can counter it? Again,
going by the Dopamine way, I suggested that you form new goals. Particularly like, if
you develop obesity during the time, try to keep fit or try something its completely like
creative writing, this will release a new set of Dopamine, every time a goal is achieved
and then you will feel that you are gaining more and more pleasure and slowly you will
come out of the negative thinking that you associated with emotional break ups and
thanks to this Zeigarnik effect, thoughts were coming and including in your brain even if
you wanted to focus on other things because you left it incomplete.

Now, the other thing I said is any remnants, I said that you just completely burn it, or
burry it, or you keep away from that, places that you hang out together you just don’t go
to the place, completely come out of it, immerse yourself in new activities, get new
Dopamine benefits and then, after time, you will realize that you have actually come
through. The other interesting thing that I set just as a passing, but I didn’t spend more
time in the previous lecture is said, reminding of the bad things the other person did for
you, okay? Now, usually when an emotional break up has happened, initially there is
some kind of bitterness, some kind of grief, but after sometime what happens the brain
will always go back and remember the most pleasurable activities that happen during the
time, it always wants to go back to that idyllic or euphoric moments, the very glorious
past, in which both of you were involved. But the other thing that it does is it goes there
and then leaves you with the sense of incompleteness and gives you withdrawal
symptoms, makes you alienate from the immediately surrounding society and gives you
lot of other traumatic feelings like depression, and even it can take you to suicidal
tendencies.

To counter it, it is suggested that, don’t only focus only on the good things the other
person did, because Dopamine is again and again making your brain to seek that kind of
pleasure and then you have associated that pleasure only with that particular person. So,
you get it only when you are able to link with other person, and person is no more, or the
person is not there in your vicinity or you cannot contact the person again for obvious
reasons. So, that is again going to give you negative thinking and develop bad habits.
Now to counter it, is suggested that think of the bad things, okay! Sometimes the person
acted very cranky, jerky, got into your nerves, you, even when the relationship was going
on, you wondered, whether you should hang out this person forever, there are so many
breaking points. So, many times, you thought that rather you have made a wrong
decision and then the other person literally got into your nerves.

Now, think of those times, the times when you thought that may be, this is not the right
person, now that is going to help you to minimize the Dopamine craving that goes and
then seeks that idyllic moment, the euphoric moment. So, this thinking of the bad things
that happened, which generally, memory tries to avoid, again because of the Dopamine
factor, but that if you can think of that, that will also help you to use Dopamine, but in a
different manner and then it will make you strengthen yourself and it will make you
come out of it gradually, and in sooner or later, completely and then start a fresh chapter
in your life.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:45)

Now, let us look at the same Ziegarnik effect that I talked to you, that includes your
thoughts, whenever you come to think of some activity that you left incomplete. Now,
how we can use that effect for productivity and personal growth? Now since unfinished
activities give anxiety according to the effect, it is important to focus on an activity and
stick to it till it is completed, think about this again. If you leave something unfinished,
so that time it looks like ok, that is fine, it can be completed later, and then you go and
start something else, but then your mind is already heavy with that task that is not yet
completed and then it is not letting you focus on another activity and your mind goes
back and reminds you—oh! what about that you left that uncomplete, and then you are
spending most of your time on this, I will not let you focus on this, until you go back and
complete that.

So, how you can make yourself a very highly protective person and use this effect for
personal growth. So, one guiding principle that you can have in terms of that is: Think
that if you start a work, finish it. So, if you start it finish it, any small thing—reading a
book, even it can be, let’s say you wanted to listen to a song for ten minutes don’t leave
it incomplete, finish it. Particularly with regard to any kind of job that is assigned to you,
at a personal level, professional level, don’t leave it in between. If you start it, finish it,
this is an important growth habit you need to inculcate in your personality.

Keep telling you again and again, if I start it, I will finish it. Come what may, whatever
obstacles, whatever will come and stand in between, I will surmount all the difficulties,
but I will finish it, I will perceive here, I will be there till the end, I will seek to it that it
is completed. Because, finishing it gives you a sense of completion, and that sense of
completion gives you utmost satisfaction, and blissfulness and peace of mind. One thing
that I try to impinge on your mind, throughout this course is, that it’s utmost important
that you have your peace of mind, which is much more important, than any kind of
pleasure seeking, any kind of happiness, but that you will get when you try to have self
actualization. That you will get when you are able to cater to your need achievement,
when you operate at a high level of self awareness, but that will also get when you are
able to complete a task and that will give you that blissful peace of mind which is very
much needed. Live a life without regret but live also your life that gives you complete
peace.

Now, when you move from one finished task to another, your confidence level will
increase, and you will be devoid of any anxiety. Initially, if you leave something
unfinished, incomplete, so the thoughts will keep haunting you, and then it will not let
you develop your confidence, and it will keep on enhancing your low self esteem, it will
undermine you, and it’s only keep you more and more at anxious state, but then
understanding this part, that when you leave from one finished task to another. So, that is
going to build up your personality, that is going to make to feel that, I start something I
will finish it, you will exude lot of confidence and people will run after you because they
think that oh! this is the person whom I should approach because if I give this task it will
be completed.

Now, this knowledge in you, also helps in beating procrastination. Procrastination is one
of the worst bad habits one can develop and this thinking alone and this realization and
internalization can help you in beating procrastination, how? You realize that it is just the
starting trouble. Okay, any work that you keep postponing, that you keep avoiding doing
it. Understand! It’s just the starting trouble, you just start it, somehow or other and then
because you want the euphoric thing that Dopamine will give you once you complete it,
and because you know that this Ziegarnik effect is not going to let you free unless you
complete it, you will finish it anyhow. So, you start it somehow and then you will finish
it anyhow; and that thinking, that it’s all it needs, to big procrastination is, starting it
somehow.

You don’t want to go for walking. It’s just getting up from your bed and taking the first
step, so the rest will happen. You don’t like to start writing the assignment; don’t want to
submit it, it’s just writing the first few lines. In fact, even you can say, I will just work
only for 10 minutes, you set your alarm and then just work only for 10 minutes on that
activity and then after 10 minutes you will feel that you are already charged, already
warmed up because now the Ziegarnik effect is going to be active and then with the
combination with Dopamine you know that now you cannot leave it incomplete you need
to continue with that. So, start and then you finish it and keep that as a kind of golden
key line just to remember, in terms of developing a good habit, especially if you want to
develop your productivity and personal growth.

(Refer Slide Time: 15:27)

Now, there are certain other aspects which you need to keep in your mind with regard to
brain and that will also help you to increase your level of productivity. Now, brain needs
to complete the cycle of an activity that we have started. So if you want to free the brain
from addictive habits, you need not pattern any uncompleted or incomplete task in it.
What does it mean? Now, brain has to get a feeling that one activity cycle, the loop is
completed or fulfilled once we started. So, if you want to actually free the brain from
addictive habits, so, you should not pattern that with any activities that remain
incomplete. This again means, unfinished tasks, huge large amount of mental resources,
by occupying and blocking the premium space, but refusing to go away, until you finish
it, so the unfinished activities. So, they are just like cancer spreading and occupying the
premium space in your brain and then unless you just try to shut them out, okay, unless
you try to remove them from your mind. So, they are not going to let you occupy that
important space for using other creative and interesting and challenging activities. For
this reason alone, you should stop watching any tele-serials, if you want to free your
mind from a chain of incomplete activities.

Why, why should not you watch tele-serials? Because, the brain forms addictive
behaviour such as, compulsive TV serial watching till it receives the information that the
who done it, what’s happening next, okay, who is the murderer, why did it happen, will
the person get back the memory or not, is the person going to die or not, now all these
things will be shown in the next day, next week. So, the brain needs to receive the
information that it is known, it is complete, that the serial will not be continued anymore
in the next week or the week after, till it needs to know that, it will keep on watching it
even if it is shown for years, ages, and till it wants to know that, it is completed. The
brain is getting addictive to watching it. So, if you want to free up lot of space in your
brain, for more activities, that will help you to develop high level of productivity and
personal growth, stop watching any serials.

The same thing happens while playing video games. Now the video games take you to a
near level of closure. You get a feeling that you reach the level and you are going to
complete it, but they will never let you reach the final level, then they will never let you
to open the last gate and then go and get the treasure. So, it is always just nearing, but not
complete enough.

Now, that is the way the games will ensure it will make sure that you stick to it and get
addicted to it perennially. A permanent addiction, permanent enslaving is caused because
of this Zeigarnik effect that can be used positively or negatively and in video games it is
used to make you glue to the games. So that the mind always seeks that I need to
complete, I need to complete, and then it will never let you complete. And then, can we
use Zeigarnik effect in a very constructive, positive manner? Yes, now if we can use it
constructively, the Zeigarnik effect can give you the motivation to make you leave from
sick bed and complete the task at hand. So, even great artists have always done. So,
when a product remains unfinished, in completed, so, it is this thinking in the mind that
even if I am sick, I have to complete it, I have to finish it. okay. So, that pushes them,
makes them even overcome any kind of physical pain, and then act and then perform,
experience the peak performances, just because of this activity that is wired into the
brain, that unless you complete it you are not going to get your peace of mind, you will
not get that creative assonance, it will be only dissonance.

Now, the simple example is ear worms. So, ear worms or like figuratively refer to songs,
see you might have experienced like suddenly, when you get up and then one song keeps
coming in your mind. You don’t know how it came, may be, you just saw somewhere or
heard somewhere on radio or somebody mentioned a word of that song and then it
trigged in your mind and then it keeps triggering your mind the entire day, and then it is
like you keep hearing. So, that is why it is like ear worm, it is just inside your ear and
then you are not able to do anything out of it, unless, you give complete time, you listen
to it fully and then you just attend your mind patiently that okay I am listening and
completing it fully just go away it’s not going to leave you. So, sometimes the entire day,
it keeps playing in your ear again and again, somebody started it, somebody whistled it
on the way, but you got it in your ear. Now, this is again a simple example of this
Zeigarnik effect, where incomplete things will continue to haunt you.

The brain is also immersed in something, that does not let you focus on any task at hand
because of this effect, but then, internalisation of the Zeigarnik effect can give you the
much-needed intrinsic motivation to achieve or excel in any activity. What do I mean by
this? If you can internalise, okay, think deep and then identify and understand that, if
only I will start an activity and if I finish it, I will not let this Zeigarnik effect act on me.
It will not keep on making me go back to tasks which I didn’t complete it before. So, I
will always have time to do new activities and spend more time on creative tasks than to
get bogged down in something which I didn’t want to do.

So, whether you like it or not, first you finish it and then come out of it, you escape.
Now, that is the way I want you to internalise, that I start it, I will finish it, I will not
leave anything incomplete. Otherwise, this Zeigarnik effect, it’s going to let my memory
go back and then it’s going to intrude in the most unpleasant time or the significant time
that I have been giving to a new activity—it comes and haunts me. What you should do?
You can rewire your brain to seek completions, as it takes you to resolution of tension
and adds to the feel-good factor. So, you just completely try to make your brain
understand that, if I finish it, I will be able to resolve any tension and it also gives you
this feel good factor. Okay! I completed, I feel good about myself and this is what I
want. Not completing, so, it is going to haunt me again and it is not going to allow me to
do another task in a better manner. So, let me finish it. So, keep this in mind and this one
single quality that since this Zeigarnik effect is there I just want to avoid letting that
happened in my mind. So, in order to counter, I will always start a task, and finish it I
will never leave anything incomplete.

Now, even one small thing that I tell you, the email inbox, let’s say that, as around 5000
mails in your inbox, if you can delete all mails which are not needed, and create folders
input which you need it later, and create zero in your inbox and if you can see that, so, it
is actually making you become more productive, and you realise that you are able to
check this Zeigarnik effect. Otherwise every time you go to email it is also causing you
lot of heaviness, it always leads your feeling that there is something that you left,
something, may be important is there, buried and you forgot to look at it, but there is no
time to check that. But then, if you can do this, mind is completely free and then brain
can focus on a new task completely with full figure.

Now, I just want to conclude this lecture with one interesting thought from William
Shakespeare, that comes in his most famous play Hamlet and this is actually an advise
given by a father to a son, Polonius to his son Laertes. But, why I am using this for the
conclusion? In the past two lectures at least, I am trying to tell you—avoid bad habits
form good habits. Now you may ask me, what are those good habits? What are those bad
habits? And I have listed some, I have said that these are good habits, these are bad
habits.

Now I or anybody else is not going to oversee you whether you are going to form them,
whether you are going to use them in your daily life, whether you are going to really
change from the above average to excellence using this because, you should not think
that oh! somebody is there, then I will try to form a good habit, but somebody is not
there, nobody is watching, I will try to do something wrong and then inculcate a bad
habit. So, this is what Shakespeare says.

(Refer Slide Time: 26:35)

He says: This above all, to thine ownself be true. So, many suggestions have been given,
lots of pieces of advice have been given, but above all, whatever has been said to you to
thine ownself be true - be true to yourself, you don’t have to true to somebody else, you
don’t have to be true to your father, you don’t have to be true to your parents, you don’t
have to be true to your boss, you don’t have to be true to your spouses, you don’t have to
be true to your children, you don’t have to be true to your neighbour, but just be true to
yourself and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

If you follow it up each day, every day, regularly that you insist promise to yourself that
you will be true to yourself, he says that then you will never be false to any man which
implies that you will never form any bad habits if you are true to yourself.

Keep this thought in mind, at this point of concluding this lecture, there’s just one more
lecture to complete this week and thank you for watching this video and I wish you that
you have a very good day!