A study at The British Institute of Psychiatry
showed checking your email while
performing another creative task decreases your IQ in the moment by 10 points.
This decrease is the equivalent of the effects from not sleeping for 36 hours –
and exhibits more than twice the impact of smoking marijuana.
In a study of 1,000 of its
employees, Basex, an
information-technology research firm, found striking data showcasing
inefficiency. It was determined that 2.1
hours per day is lost to interruptions. This figure indicates over 26 percent of the average workday is
wasted due to multitasking and unwanted interruptions. Jordan Grafman,
chief of the cognitive neuroscience section at the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Strokes, explains, “There’s substantial literature on how the brain handles multitasking.
And basically, it doesn’t… what’s really going on is a rapid toggling among
tasks rather than simultaneous processing.”
Another study, conducted
by professors at the University of
California, observed the workflow and time-on-task of employees at two
high-tech corporations. They discovered that the employees only spent an average of 11 minutes before being
interrupted or having to move on to something else. It then took them 25
minutes to work their way back to their original task.
“If you are constantly being interrupted by fellow employees, instant
messages, or phone calls, reserve a small conference room for a little bit of
time, grab your laptop, and crank away,” write Erik Qualman, author of Digital Leader. “If you are at your home go to a local coffee house or a park with your
laptop and tablet. Another trick is to wear your phone’s headset or earbuds
even when you aren’t on a call as people will be less likely to interrupt you.”
The truth is: Multitasking actually leads to less productivity and efficiency.
Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)
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