A quick look round and I came up with the following:
An anglepoise lamp inherited from my nan (ages ago), has never had a light bulb and has never been used;
A wall-hanging I was making while learning to weave; almost finished but abandoned;
A large hall cupboard full of stuff needing to go to the tip/charity shop;
A half-sewn tablecloth I was going to have ready for the Summer to use in the garden;
A pile of filing;
A pile of stamps I've been collecting to send to a charity;
A pile of ink cartridges to recycle that have been sitting there for weeks;
A T-shirt I am designing and printing for my dad - all ready to go but not printed.
I can't decide if this is a psychological blockage, plain laziness, loss of interest or reaching a difficult point in all the projects - e.g I couldn't find a light bulb due to the full cupboard,
wasn't sure how to finish the hanging, the tablecloth was a tricky shape due to a patchwork of odd material scraps I chose, etc. They all seem like small tasks, but I see most of them every day and thus have brief thoughts about them too.
There is actually a psychological effect on the mind called the Zeigarnik effect, a phenomenon named after Russian (Lithuanian-born) psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who discovered in 1927 (never let it be said my blog is out-of-date!) that the mind tends to remember and fixate on unfinished tasks rather than ones that have been completed. In this way, the mind tends to fill itself up with lots of to-do lists, making us feel overwhelmed at times. It can lead to a loss of focus and a feeling of not being in control or particularly productive or having time (breathing/thinking space) to be creative. Basically, your mind has a limited capacity for attention - you can only fit so much into your active memory at a time (I knew it! Well, I did once but then forgot I knew it...).
After my illness, I have had a very poor memory which has been affecting my work life quite seriously. I have had to set up new methods of working, writing EVERY LITTLE THING down and training my colleagues to remind me of the most mundane things (e.g. to check my to-do list!). Other friends tell me of their experiences of "chemo-brain" (mild cognitive impairment) which can be a side-effect of chemotherapy or having cancer; the exact cause is not known but can have symptoms such as being unusually disorganised, trouble remembering facts, confusion and difficulty doing simple tasks.
Anyway, having had an unusual fit of activity and emptied the hall cupboard, I came across exactly the required light bulb for my nan's lamp and have been able to see the sewing machine better which has meant I sat down today in the grey of the afternoon to think about the next step for the tablecloth. The Zeigarnik Effect tells me that once I have started my task I am more likely to finish it.
Maybe it'll be ready for next Summer, thus freeing my brain for another task....
The Zeigarnik Effect is used often in our daily lives and in business; think of the TV Series with the cliffhanger ending....you automatically tend to want to tune in next time to know the ending. Newspapers continue stories on another page, causing you to want to turn through the rest of the paper to find the ending. Charles Dickens employed the technique of maximum suspense in his serialized tales. A good public speaker will start an engaging story, which is interrupted part-way through, and then return to it at the end of the talk, thus keeping the audience alert and wanting to know, how did it end? Our brains do not like unfinished business. On that note, I'd just like to add.................to be continued.
