Originally published: April 20th, 2017
It’s not you, it’s science.
Have you ever tried to plan your daily task list only to forget the first task before you reach the last? Don’t worry, that’s not just you. Studies tell us that we do have a limit to the number of things that we can remember at a given time and that number appears to be around four.
Want another fact to rattle your core? A 2016 Microsoft report indicates that our attention spans have been shrinking and we have now officially fallen below the threshold of a goldfish. Since 2000 we’ve dropped from a 12 second attention span to 8 seconds. The goldfish clocks in at 9, beating us out by 1 second.
What do these findings tell us? People can’t depend on memory alone. Now more than ever, we need to go back to our humble roots and take and in-depth look at the task list.
No wonder I played so much Tetris as a kid…
Why do we like task lists? It turns out science has an answer for that too. In the 1930’s a psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik observed waiters in a restaurant that had amazing recall ability. The waiters could remember orders for groups of 10… 11… 12 people! They would remember orders perfectly without pen and paper but as soon as the food was delivered, they could not recall who had been served each dish. The Zeigarnik Effect was born.
The Zeigarnik Effect is the nagging you feel from having an unfinished task. It also explains why Tetris is such an addictive game. We are inclined to like resolutions. Tetris is a stream of resolutions to satisfy your brain and new problems to engage it. This is why you continue to see moving blocks hours after playing, because your mind is still working on the solution.
We can help with that…
This is where the task feature in molti comes to our “goal oriented” rescue. By automating task creation with our workflow builder we make sure that if you have more than 4 things that need to happen, they will. By also allowing custom task creation, we’re giving you the ability to create and assign tasks as things come up and put the Zeigarnik Effect into action.
Task creation in molti is simple and intuitive. Whether it’s a one-time task that needs to be assigned and completed or a new addition to your current process, you can make the changes yourself. No need for developers, we’ve got you covered!
Leave sticky notes behind!
Molti.com tasks are an upgrade from the classic sticky note because you can track their progress.
A review published in 2016 by Psychological Bulletin revealed that people are more likely to accomplish their goals when their progress is tracked. Molti.com is committed to transparent business process management. Not only does the transparency help people manage projects more easily, it will help you grow your business.