New Study Reveals Short Work Interruptions May Double Errors

If you ever figured a brief interruption at work like hearing your smartphone ring or getting dinged by Outlook about an upcoming meeting has interrupted your concentration, a new study proves that you’re right.

Researchers at Michigan State University looked at 300 participants who performed a sequence-based procedure on a computer. As it turns out, interruptions of three seconds doubled their error rates! 

Although interruptions during a work day are inevitable ranging from text messages to a colleague knocking on your door or cubicle wall, they could wreak havoc on your work itself.

Essentially participants had to do tasks in order.

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