I read the book a few months ago and thought it was excellent. If anyone is interested, I took extensive notes (warning, they kind of spoil reading the book, which I think is very much worth reading): http://leopolovets.com/blog/2011/10/23/book-notes-on-willpow...
> Zeigarnik effect: uncompleted tasks and unmet goals tend to pop into one’s mind. Once the task is completed and the goal is reached, however, this stream of reminders comes to a stop. For example, if you listen to a song, your mind moves on; if you listen to a song that’s abruptly cut off in the middle, your mind will continue inserting bits and pieces of the song into your stream of thoughts, reminding you that you’re not “done” listening.
Interesting, I wonder if this is the same as when you have a song stuck (looping) in your head. I've been told that listening to the whole song will make it unstuck.
My observations confirm both of these assertions. Leaving a song (I was semi-actively listening to) unfinished will make it stuck in my head, finishing it will remove it.
>The best way to reduce stress is to stop screwing up and setting up your life to increase your chances of success. Successful people don’t use willpower as a last-ditch defense, they use it to set up good habits and avoid problem situations.
To idiomize this great point: Willpower is a hammer, not a shield.
That book and The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle[1] have both left a tremendous impact on me. I think partly because both eschew the mumbo-jumbo, hand wavy, pseudo-science approach, they're both easy to read for the layman and most importantly include lots of high-level summary and explanation about the research that supports the books.
