Speaker 1: 0:06

Well, hey there, welcome back. Welcome back to the Sweet Spot. It's Making Moves Monday on the Sweet Spot, and I'm Dr Derek Sweet, and you know we're here to synthesize science and soul. That's what we do on the Sweet Spot, and, as a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in sports psychiatry and high performance, I'm all about helping people make that move. And so today, on Making Moves Monday, I want to ask you something what's the thing that you've been putting off? Where is it that you've not been making your move? Is it a project? Is it a workout? Is it a conversation? Yeah, something. Is there something that you have not done or you need to get done? We've all got something right.

Speaker 1: 0:56

So why is this so tough? Why is it so hard? Just to start? Well, let me tell you hard, just to start. Well, let me tell you, there's a brain effect that you need to know about, called the Zeigarnik effect. That's Z-E-I-G-A-R-N-I-K.

Speaker 1: 1:15

The Zeigarnik effect, and this is named after psychologists who noticed that the brain can't stop thinking about unfinished tasks. So that's the idea. Your brain keeps open loops running. Whenever we don't finish a task, or if we start something and it gets interrupted and we never finish it, our brain gets spazzed out, it gets anxious. I talked about this last week a little bit and I wanted to just build on it again. So this zygarnic effect is something we need to understand and know, so that what happens is that the mind creates a to-do list the minute you don't finish something and it will nag you, it will bother you, it will cause anxiety, it will clutter your mind and what happens is that it gets to the point where sometimes it's paralyzing and too much of a wait and a struggle to try to get it done. So the anxiety itself just is too much. And that's what's happening. You're in the zygarnic effect because you didn't complete the project and the way that looks. I'll tell you how it looks in my house. Open a drawer in my bedroom or something, or open a cabinet. You'll see where I stuff things up and I need to organize, or the garage isn't looking right, or there's something that just needs to be done that I just never got done and I never come back to it because it's like oh my god, it's just compounding, it's difficult and all of that. That's what's happening. It's a zygonic effect, but here's the deal Science has our backs.

Speaker 1: 2:56

There is a scientific approach to this and it's called implementation intention. Basically, what science says is that you have to create an if-then plan in your mind. So think of if-then planning as your approach to handling this zygarnic effect, right? So it's like you create a mini contract with yourself using this if-then planning. So how does this work? You basically say something like this If it's 8 am, then I'll write for 10 minutes. If it's 11 am, I'll work out for 20 minutes. You see, it's just sort of simple. You're pre-programming your brain to act, not just think, because you already set the if-then script in your mind. Try it. See what's in your life that you need to have an if-then plan and then check it out. And here's another trick Use a two-minute rule. If the if-then planning is too hard, try the two-minute rule.

Speaker 1: 4:02

You have a big task? Forget it, break it down. If you have to write a big project, right, just break it down. Just sit in front of the computer and write one line. If you have to work out, you don't want to go into the gym, go to the gym and just stand there. Do one push-up.

Speaker 1: 4:25

By doing these one to two minute tasks and just staying there for one or two minutes with a task, your brain will gather momentum. It's just a natural thing. You're getting your brain excited about opening a loop to complete something, so you're telling your brain that you're going to do something and your brain will take it from there. It's like a kickstart. So look, we all know it's comfortable to stay in our little mental harbors, where we have our little mental ships there. But a ship in the harbor is not safe. The quote says right, ships are not built to stay in the harbor. Ships are built to sail. You're built for more than this. You're built to do things.

Speaker 1: 5:13

So today I want you to use just one if-then plan. Create one if-then plan and one tiny one-minute or two-minute action. That's it. You don't have to see the whole staircase, you don't have to see the whole path. Just do these one or two little actions and that's it for today. You will have a plan to beat the zygarnik effect and you will never let big projects worry you again, because you break them down into smaller projects, because the brain gets relieved once it completes things. That's why it's important to complete what you start and if you can't, just come back and do it bit by bit, the more you complete, the better. All right now, this is Dr Sweet. Thank you for joining me. I hope you will go and research the Zygarnik effect and you'll research your if-then plan and take your one and two-minute plan and create the most powerful Monday ever. I'll see you tomorrow for Take Action Tuesday. If you would like more, join me on YouTube or join me on Twitter or join me on Instagram. I'm even on threads, take care.