Once again, making a plan made a difference. Those who’d written about unfulfilled tasks had more trouble keeping their minds focused on the novel—unless they’d made a specific plan to complete the task, in which case they reported relatively little mind wandering and scored quite well on the reading comprehension test. Even though they hadn’t finished the task or made any palpable progress, the simple act of making a plan had cleared their minds and eliminated the Zeigarnik effect. But the Zeigarnik effect remained for the students without a plan.
