What we should be "distracted for a few seconds"
Work And Study Productivity / / December 23, 2019
How often are you distracted by little things on a case? It would seem that scary to respond quickly to a message on a mobile? University of Michigan study gives the answer: even a short-term distraction is unexpectedly strong effect on our ability to execute and complete the task correctly.
The study involved 300 people. Their task was to carry out a step by step procedure on the computer. As a result, the presence of even tiny distractions for 3 seconds doubled the rate of errors in performing the task.
Erik Altmann, who led the study, agrees that in today's society we are constantly distracted, be it a mobile phone or a colleague, constantly scurrying to and fro the office. Now imagine what might be the consequences of such distractions, if a person works as a mechanic servicing an airliner.
Similar studies were conducted in the past. Research Unit US Navy also analyzed the effects of the presence of distractions when performing relatively difficult tasks. Research participants should have said, is whether a certain letter closer to the beginning or the end of the alphabet. Even in the absence of distractions people sometimes make mistakes. When their requests distracted just type a few letters, and then return to the task (it is also involved in about 3 seconds), the doubled number of errors.
The biggest surprise to Altmann brought the force effect in such a short time distraction. It turns out that the time for which a person is distracted from the task, it does not matter, even if it is only a second.
The reason lies in the fact that our brain can not switch to another task, not the "unloaded" with the current. Accordingly, to return to the initial problem it is necessary to once again "reload" to the state just before the moment of distraction, but our brain does not get it right and not always absolutely right.
How to protect yourself from distractions? Obviously, you need to start with your work environment. It is hardly possible to eliminate all such factors, but worth a try at least to put the phone in silent mode at the time of an important task.