Here’s a little article from Success Magazine: “There’s a good reason to hang a ‘Do not disturb’ sign on your door when you need to concentrate. Researchers for Michigan State U. and the Navy have determined that people make double, sometimes even triple, the errors immediately after they are interrupted, even when the diversions last only a few seconds. It doen’st take much to get off track, which occurs whenever people have to shift attention. Three-second distractions doubled errors in the study; 4.5 second interruptions tripled errors.
Scientists call the delay in finding your place in the original task ‘resumption lag.’ While they’ve studied many aspects of this phenomenon, it’s agreed (and makes sense) that multitasking- essentially a cycle of interruption and resumption of work- acts like a brake to momentum. The takeaways: turn off the phone, shut down email and close the door to avoid mistakes and work efficiently.”
Action step: give this a try by actually turning off your phone when you have to do paperwork or write something. And turn off the sound, and even the screen, on your computer when you’re at your desk working on something. Then notice if you were more focused, made fewer mistakes, and actually got more done in less time. Then go celebrate!