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Little Find

1 hour 12 minutes of “genuine productivity”

Today you only had a little over an hour of uninterrupted work. That’s why your to-do list hasn’t gotten any smaller. Where on earth did your day go?

Leaving your mailbox and instant communication tools open all the time encourages endless back and forth between messages and tasks to be accomplished. These interruptions, even if they don’t last long, are a form of multitasking, which impairs cognitive performance and efficiency. Seventy percent of emails received are opened within six seconds. Is that really necessary? More than anything, it’s harmful. 

  • You waste several minutes refocusing on the interrupted task and thereby diminish your productivity. 
  • Your stress levels rise every time you’re interrupted, and your mood drops at the sight of the demands.
  • You lose the habit of focusing for any length of time on one task.  
  • The quality of your work suffers. 

Does your business genuinely need to respond in real time? Put some slots aside during the day when you’re totally unplugged so you can limit the temptation to “just take a look.” You can extend the amount of time little by little as your contacts get used to not receiving instant replies. 

Further reading

The true cost of email and IM

by Jory MacKay (Blog Rescue Time, 10 may 2018). 

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Florence Meyer
Published by Florence Meyer
Executive coach, change management expert, and author. Constantly on the lookout for the latest management and leadership trends.