Patients often cite racing thoughts as an impediment to sleep. They report being tired, ready to go to bed, looking forward to sleeping and then lying in the bed feeling restless and unable to go to sleep. While this happens to almost all of us from time to time, it is a regular occurrence for some people. There is both an explanation and a solution for the problem.
 
Bluma Wulfovna Zeigamik was a Russian psychiatrist who made an interesting discovery in the 1920’s. Waiters in a restaurant were able to keep very good track of many orders and unpaid bills for restaurant patrons, but were unable to recall almost any details for those orders that had been filled and paid for. She was curious and started conducting research to identify an explanation for this in her lab.

In one study, children were asked to complete simple tasks, puzzles, and math problems. The children were interrupted after half of the tasks were completed. After an hour, almost all of the children had better memory of the unfinished tasks than those that they completed. In similar experiments with adults, she found that they had 90% better recall of unfinished than finished tasks. This became known as the Zeigamik Effect, and it has been confirmed by other researchers.[1]

Some studies have shown that the Zeigamik Effect can interfere with sleep. For example, a study of 59 employees over a 12-week period of time showed that unfinished tasks at work led to rumination, which in turn interfered with sleep, even on the weekends.[2]

So how can this information be used to help an individual sleep better? Some people will sleep better if they take the time before going to bed each night to evaluate their day, look at the calendar, make a to-do list, and prepare notes for the next day’s activities, including those related to unfinished tasks. Taking the time to write in a diary about ongoing family issues and proposed plans of actions is a good idea too.

Actions like closing the appointment book, closing out of screens on the computer, putting lists in a prominent place where they will be easily noticed in the morning, and placing a paper and pen at the bedside in case a great idea comes to mind in the middle of the night can also be helpful.

The message these activities sends to the brain is “I’m prepared for tomorrow. I have a plan. I’ve thought through my options and now can process this information while I sleep and will wake up tomorrow with even better ideas.”