Done With Work

  Larry Gard, Ph.D. For many of us, work is a primary source of accomplishment and pride.  Throughout the course of our career, we point to projects completed, problems solved, and people helped.  If you’re contemplating retirement, it’s easy to imagine you will find yourself missing the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, not to mention dwelling on the things left  undone .      Unfinished business and unmet goals can make it hard to stop working.  Our inclination to focus on what we  didn’t  accomplish reflects a psychological phenomenon called the Zeigarnik effect.  It’s the tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks more easily than those that have been completed.  This phenomenon was first noticed in the early 1900’s and has been reproduced in a number of studies.  The point here is, just because we more easily remember what is unfinished doesn’t mean those things should unduly influence our decision about stopping work.  There is no guarantee that if you stay