$3,833 and 99.67 extra hours per year...that is how much being interrupted may be costing you.

When it comes to the topic of focus and distractions, much has been said.

We complain constantly about our diminished ability to concentrate on a particular task for more than a few minutes.? There are books written about how to manage distractions and a varied number of theories about the sources of those distractions.?? So, I am going to assume that you, just like me, are particularly aware of the problem.? Moreso, if your job (like mine) requires you to spend countless hours in front of your computer drafting articles or reviewing documents.?

In the context of this well-known problem that affects us all, have you ever stopped to think about how much money is costing you, your company and your clients, the time me, you or your colleagues spend distracted?? I have, and I am happy to share some numbers that will surprise you.?

“Network Switching” ?

Before getting to the $$$, let me give you an undisputed fact which I used to ask my not-good-friend ChatGPT to consider when making this calculation (I hope you did not assume that I was going to create mathematical formulas...remember that I am a lawyer for a reason). This fact is that if you are focused on a particular task, let’s say reviewing a contract, and you are slightly interrupted by a “ding” on your computer announcing that you have a new email, even if you don’t read the email, your brain has now done what is called “network switch”. ?Network switching means that your brain has shifted the attention from the document to the noise created by the “ding”.? Once it has done this, it will take your brain no less than 23 to 25 minutes to go back to the same level of concentration that it had before the noise that cause the interruption.???

The cost of distractions ?

With this fact on hand, I gave the AI calculator to the following scenario to play with: assume an employee with an annual salary of $80,000, who has decided to allocate 2 hours of his day to, uninterruptedly, review a contract.? This employee is nonetheless interrupted twice during this time.? Then I asked AI to calculate, taking into consideration the recovery time of 23 to 25 minutes mentioned above, how long will it take for this employee to complete the task that he had intended to complete in 2 hours and how much money was this extra time costing his company.?? Here is the result:? He would spend an additional 46 minutes on the task with an added cost to the company of $CAD $29.49.?

This does not sound like much until you start asking more questions.? If this scenario repeats 50% of the time during the business days in one year, the total extra time spent by the employee as a result of being distracted would be $3,833 and 99.67 extra hours.? Still not convinced that this is a lot????

In a company with 100 employees were only 50 are subject to this scenario, the result would be that the interruptions will cost the company a total of CAD $191,685.00 and a total time lost per year of 4,983.50 hours (~623 full workdays) ...this is almost 2 years...?

I am certain, as I am not a researcher nor a scientist that these calculations have many flaws and that if other factors are considered, these numbers would change.? However, I am sure that the numbers that I have shown above even if wrong in 50%, would still represent a considerable dollar amount and almost a year of wasted time.?

Taking control of your time?

If, like me, these numbers horrify you, here are three small things you can experiment with doing to try to minimize your distractions:?

Plan - Block on your calendar “deep work” periods, but don’t self-sabotage by doing this at times when you know that you’ll be interrupted such as the middle of the day.? Early mornings or even early evenings are best for this type of work.? However, the result of this planning is best achieved if you observe your surroundings and identify the trends in your colleagues’ behaviours when they are in the office (assuming you are working from the office).???

Communicate - Once your plan is done, you should try to let the people around you know that you have set this time aside for deep work and that you’d prefer if any interruptions are delayed until you are done. Of course, emergencies are always the exception.?

Batch work - Finally, in order to help your brain stay “in focus” try grouping similar tasks in batches of work. For instance, if you have research work to do for two clients but you also have to prepare a memo for a third client, try avoiding jumping from research to writing and then back to research.? If you can dedicate time to the research and then move to writing, you will give your brain the space to remain active in one particular task (research) that uses areas of the brain that are overlapping but distinct from the areas used when you are writing.??

Distractions are all around us and not all of them are unwelcomed. Some of them, as shown by research, can even help us with the task at hand in cases when a question from a colleague for instance can help us reshape our line of thought on that particular task or add value to the work that we are doing.?

There are other interruptions and distractions that are entirely unwelcomed and which we can control (to a certain extent).? Notifications, in my case are the biggest offenders but it is on me to control how and when they come in, and so can you.?

Your time has a value which goes beyond its dollar amount. It is the time that you could use in other activities, whether they are personal or professional. So let’s make better use of it!?

MV?