We all know the to-do lists, some adhere to them while others prefer not to have them in their lives.
There is of course a reason why a list remains such a popular productivity tool. Whether you want to not forget anything from the supermarket shopping or to always be on time at work, there is something that satisfies you when you write something down and turn it off at the end of the day.
However, to-do lists do not only have positive points. At a time when the pressure for productivity is running high 24 hours a day, 7 hours a day, the need to be constantly busy and clear up your pending issues can lead to feelings of exhaustion. And while to-do lists are not the only culprits, they contribute to a psychological phenomenon that fuels the urge to be busy and is called completion bias.
The psychological term used to describe our obsession or more simply our natural tendency to want to “check” things and complete tasks, completion bias is an innate and deeply rooted phenomenon.
As researcher Eva Krockow puts it in Psychology Today: “The importance of getting things done is deeply ingrained in most people. Indeed, this need seems to have its roots in the neurobiological mechanisms of the brain, with the experience of completing the work leading to a release of the chemical of joy, dopamine.
And while completion bias can serve as a useful incentive, it can also cause problems.
This is because completion bias is less about getting the job done and more about completing it. This can make you, for example, give more weight to completing small tasks and avoid the most difficult and time consuming ones. In this way, completion bias can lead you to procrastinate on important tasks simply because you want to put a check on the simple things on your list, such as putting on a washing machine or making the bed.
So, if you have ever added tasks that you have already completed at the bottom of your to-do list just to check them out, you know for sure what we are talking about. And while the satisfaction of completing tasks can help you keep going, it can also make you lose your meaning.
So how do you do all this cool stuff in the world of completion bias?
According to Krockow, the answer lies in knowing how to manage it.
“One way to take advantage of this phenomenon is to learn from the results of behavioral studies and make your to-do lists more effective,” he explains. “Research into the choice of work in office environments shows that scheduling small and small tasks for the beginning of the working day can help increase the motivation for the larger tasks that will follow.”
If you have difficulty starting the most difficult tasks, Krockow suggests using the completion bias to your advantage, splitting it into smaller pending issues. “As a result, you will be able to select individual work items throughout your journey to the wider goal,” he says. “It is likely to make you feel more complete and motivated in each step of the challenge.”
Although it is easy to get carried away by the satisfaction it gives you to check things out, it is important to maintain a sense of perspective. The process of completing the pending issues can be just as enjoyable as the end result, you just have to give yourself the space and concentration you need to move on.
Read also:
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