Interruptions - The Real Price Of An Interruption

How many of you are genuinely focused when working on something? I can bet that most of you'll be able to be simply distracted. Most of us aren't proficient in the art of saying no and can't deny help or a little chit chat with co workers, or abstain from checking new e-mail messages. All such interruptions eat up a considerable quantity of our time. This distracts us from the ongoing projects and causes a delay in their completion. A couple of decades ago the sources of interruptions had been limited to land line phones and co workers. But rapidly advancing technology as well as the invention of numerous communication devices have increased interruptions by multiple folds and the ways to overcome them appear to grow to be complicated day by day.



A survey conducted concerning peoples’ responses to a new email notification reveals that 55% of the people respond to a brand new email notification almost immediately. Just 35 % of the population said that they respond to new emails when it's convenient for them. This shows that people are more inclined to respond to the interruption than concentrate on the projects they are working on.



A study published by Cubesmart, Inc, says that on an average we encounter 6-7 interruptions in an hour. This means, that an individual working 8 hours a day experiences around 50 to 60 interruptions in a day. If a single interruption consumes 5 - 10 minutes of your time, then each day you may waste 500 - 600 minutes each day because of distractions. This makes six out of eight working hours every day. This explains the overtime requirements and the reason behind not being able to meet deadlines.



Another problem caused by the interruption is the time required to regain the level of attention and focus reached prior to interruption. It might cost you 25 to 30 minutes of your time to recuperate the concentration level for the original work. This is an additional cost of interruption. A study by Basex titled "The Cost of Not Paying Attention" estimated that the US economy suffers a cost of $588 billion every year due to interruptions at work.



With every passing day it's becoming very important for people to be proficient in attention management in order to prioritize work and stay away from interruptions. These interruptions can wait and aren't of urgent nature to get optimum productivity. The categorization of interruptions and handling them is a work place issue, which makes attention management one of the prime needs of this era.



Written by Mark Woods, co-author of the time management book Attack Your Day! Before It Attacks You. For more time management and productivity strategies visit http://www.attackyourday.com or http://www.trapperwoods.com.