The Worst Workplace Distraction According to Microsoft

Frank had been working on a project for weeks, putting in long hours and doing his best to meet the deadline set by his boss. But as he sat at his desk, furiously typing away, he was constantly interrupted by a notification sound from his phone. He couldn't help but check it every time, and before he knew it he was sucked into his social media feed for half an hour. When he finally snapped out of it, he realized he had wasted valuable time that he could have used to finish his project. This was the moment when Frank realized the impact of workplace distractions on productivity.

The Worst Workplace Distraction

According to research conducted by Microsoft, the worst workplace distraction is not emails, meetings, or social media, but rather the constant stream of notifications from our electronic devices. These notifications include emails, text messages, instant messaging apps, and other alerts that pop up on our smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Microsoft found that it takes an average of 23 minutes for a worker to return to a task after being interrupted by a notification. This means that even a quick glance at your phone can cost you a significant amount of time and disrupt your flow of work.

Let's take a look at some quantifiable examples of how these distractions can impact our productivity:

• A study by the University of California, Irvine found that workers were productive for only 11 minutes before being interrupted by a notification.
• A report by RescueTime found that the average person checks their phone 58 times a day, for a total of 4 hours and 44 minutes.
• An article by Fast Company stated that the cost of interruptions to the US economy is estimated to be $588 billion a year.

Practical Tips

So, what can we do to minimize the impact of these distractions and improve our productivity?

• Turn off non-essential notifications on your devices and only allow important ones, such as phone calls from your boss or urgent emails.
• Schedule specific times throughout the day to check and respond to emails and messages instead of constantly checking them as they come in.
• Experiment with time blocking, which involves setting aside uninterrupted blocks of time for focused work.
• Consider using apps or software that block distracting websites or limit your time on them.

Conclusion

1. Electronic notifications are the worst workplace distraction, and can significantly impact our productivity.
2. We can minimize the impact of these distractions by turning off non-essential notifications, scheduling specific times for checking messages, time blocking, and using apps or software to limit access to distracting websites.
3. Eliminating distractions and improving productivity requires discipline, focus, and planning, but the results are well worth it in terms of increased efficiency and job satisfaction.