How much do interruptions hurt productivity?

Someone did the math. Holy crap:

This is the modern workplace. González & Mark measured activity switches every 3 minutes. Microsoft reports ? = 30 for heavy collaborators. These researchers are describing millions of people’s actual working conditions. And at these parameters, the math is unambiguous: deep work is statistically near-impossible. We’ve normalized an environment where focus has been engineered out of the workday. No wonder everyone’s stressed!

The Math of Why You Can’t Focus at Work

There are a ton of good analyses and charts at the link.

Think about it: if you’re getting interrupted by email, calls, instant messages, etc., every three minutes, and it takes longer than three minutes to get back to focused work, there is none. That is the reality for many people in the workplace. And then we wonder why projects get off schedule so easily. Project tasks require focused time that doesn’t exist.

Collaboration is good. The team’s skills will likely outpace the individual abilities of its members. Too much might lead to getting nothing done, though, because the interruptions suck up every hour of every day. Finding a good balance is key, but having the proper staffing level is also key. Not understanding any of this is likely making your workplace a terrible place to be.

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