Weapons of mass distraction

Why are we all so busy getting nowhere?

Flicking the switch

10 minutes 21 seconds.

That’s the amount of time that someone spends on a task on average before switching focus.

How are we getting anything done?

The world has sped up in the past five years. Everyone is busy, all the time . The pandemic collapsed people’s lives, as lines between work and domestic lives were blurred. Caring responsibilities got loaded on top of people’s working days. These responsibilities didn’t end with the pandemic. Burnout rates are higher than ever.

It feels like we’re expected to be doing something all the time. Thinking and stillness have become undervalued.

In the spotlight

We’re always on. We’re never really away from our desks. I was out with a friend recently who was fielding work calls after 9 p.m. I’m not going to pretend to have not checked late-night Slack messages from my sofa.

Where people once spent time reading and considering, they now put a prompt into their AI of choice, and often uncritically use the output. Pass it on and cross another task off the list. But where’s the consideration? Creativity and insights take time to percolate. We can’t do that if we’re just flitting to the next thing.

A recent study on engineers at Microsoft found that there are significant gaps between developer’s actual work week and ideal work week. Communication (including meetings) are about twice as high as ideal. Developers with higher differences between their ideal work week and their actual work week reported lower levels of productivity. Communication overhead was significantly negatively correlated with productivity.

Developer’s actual work week vs. ideal work week. Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.15287

It’s not just about the meetings though. Some of these communications will be interruptions, where people are called away from the work they’re trying to focus on. The cost of interruptions is high. It takes someone an average of 25 minutes to resume the original activity they were doing, with at least two intervening tasks taking their attention.

Moving between tasks or ‘working spheres.’ Source: Attention Span: Finding Focus for a Fulfilling Life by Gloria Mark

Not all switches are caused by interruptions, but it’s clear that this imposes a tax on the person’s cognitive load, and on the chances of the task being completed.

“People compensate for interruptions by working faster, but this comes at a price: experiencing more stress, higher frustration, time pressure and effort.” - Mark, Judith & Klocke: The Cost of Interrupted Work

Uncompleted tasks can weigh on a person’s mind, and memories or self-reminders of unfinished work can themselves become interruptions. People interrupt themselves, changing focus for no apparent reason, just as much as they do to an external source, such as a text message or Slack notification. Finally, I understand why turning off notifications makes no difference to how often I check Slack and email for updates.

We’re wired for distraction, and our ability to focus is waning.

How do we manage engagement so that people can focus when they need to and can be open to switching when their tasks are less demanding? How do we fight back against unwanted distractions?

Mood lighting

1. Pay attention

Think about the task you’re doing. If you require focused attention, try to signal you’re not to be interrupted. I used to work with a Product Manager who had a physical ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign he would put on his desk. Lots of people use the Slack status in the same way. As I noted above, pausing notifications doesn’t always work, but at least this will reduce interruptions.

2. Make a note

Rather than letting the memory of unfinished tasks rattle around in your head, outsource them. By noting the goal you are trying to achieve, what work you’ve completed and what you need to do next, you can reduce the cognitive load of carrying all your unfinished tasks in your head. It doesn’t matter whether you record this with pen and paper or in a productivity app. It matters that you keep it organised and refer to the list to stay on top of unfinished business¹

3. Take your time

I don’t think we can shout “Stop the world, I want to get off!” Everyone else is too busy to listen. We can choose to slow down and engage with topics of interest. I’m certainly not suggesting that we don’t use AI for summaries or insights, but we can also apply our natural intelligence and do some further research. Even taking a few minutes to check sources or ask “what’s missing here” could bring you some lightbulb moments. Just because results are not instantaneous doesn’t mean they’re worthless. As every engineer knows, you shouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed.

“Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.” - The Agile Manifesto

4. Accept your fate

You’re going to be interrupted at work. Even if you don’t get interrupted by someone else, you’re just as likely to wander off-course, prompted by some random thought or the memory of an unfinished task.

Don’t fight it. Schedule it.

Allow yourself to be interrupted only as you’re finishing a task and before you pick up a new one. Research has shown that this is the best time to be interrupted from a stress and productivity perspective.

5. Pick your battles

I once worked for a boss in a different time zone. It was glorious. I could spend two uninterrupted hours in the morning before he came online that meant I was able to get huge amounts of work done, and be in full productive mode by the time he came online. If you can block out time at the beginning or end of your day, do it. You’re unlikely to find the time in the middle of the day, but if you can make a regular slot work, you’ll be amazed at the results.

Turn out the lights

Your attention is your most valuable asset. Next time you feel your focus begin to slip, remind yourself of this. Try to get to a logical place to stop. Don’t wander distractedly. Wander with purpose.

1. For more on this, David Allen’s book Getting Things Done is a great resource.