Interruptions have always been a reality of work, as meetings, chats, emails, calls fragment our time and attention. Now with most of the employees working from home, this has increased with the simultaneous demands of work and non-work responsibilities.
In a survey conducted, it was observed that on average employees face more than 10 interruptions a day with about 15% of the employees reporting more than 20 interruptions a day. Also, employees get interrupted every 6-12 minutes.
It is a well-known fact that our brains find t difficult to switch between tasks. More often we remain focussed on the interrupted task and do not switch to the new task. this is called attention residue. We hold on to the incomplete work rather than switch over to the new task. Thu we perform the new task with only a part of our cognitive resources and risk performing them poorly.
Being interrupted is especially difficult when facing time pressure upon resuming interrupted work. They exhibit high levels of attention residue and significant performance decrements on the new task. They did not process the information correctly, did not notice errors, and they were less likely to identify an optimal solution.
However, when there was no time pressure, switching away from it was less difficult, they didn't face any significant attention residue and performed at higher levels of the new task.
It was found during research that when employees were given time to note down where they were on the first task, what they wanted to do, and focus on in a "Ready-to resume plan" they experience less attention deficit. Focus on the new task improved, and they exhibited better decision-making capabilities when dealing with complex information.
The "ready-to-resume plan" took less than 1 minute but it yielded significant results. This simple exercise of taking stock of what a person was doing, and planning one's return makes the person more relaxed and pay more attention to the new task. It provides the brain with a cognitive closure it needs to reduce its attention residue so that it can concentrate on the new task.
Sometimes it may be difficult to take time out to do this. It is better to ask for permission to note down the points and thanking everyone for allowing to do so is generally appreciated. Also, it is important to remember that when you interrupt your colleagues, you can also encourage them to do the same.
Also, such interactions could cause the interrupting employees to reflect if the issue is so pressing that it requires interruption and lead to a higher threshold for interrupting. Yes, interruptions may be a fact of life but it can be managed and its effect mitigated.
A Plan for Managing (Constant) Interruptions at Work
by Sophie Leroy and Theresa M. Glomb HBR June 30, 2020
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