Context Switching, Phone Pick Ups and How to be More Productive at Work
The time we spent on screens is going up. And our focus and attention seem to be going down. Probably, more so during the never-ending lockdowns and the current work from home set-up.
We hardly let ourselves get into a state of deep concentration. Before we can do it, we are disturbed by a message, mail or a slack notification. Even if there is no notification, we reach out to grab our phones as soon as we hit a roadblock, a moment of difficulty or boredom. This constant switching between work and our phone is an example of context switching. And it has become a modern-day safety blanket from any and all moments of stress. But also, a blanket that doesn’t allow us to operate at full efficiency.
Since we’re always jumping between different modes of communication, notifications and screens, we lose track of our time and fall behind our own schedules. There have been days where I’ve felt rushed and overworked even when the workload wasn’t much. It’s no surprise then, that even though we’re working a lot more, we’re not achieving as much as we should with the time we spend at work.
It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the deep focus you had on a task once you have been distracted.
Screen time as mentioned previously is only one part of the equation. The frequency of picking up our phones is the other aspect that we usually ignore when we think of our phone usage.
Here’s a couple of interesting stats about phone pick-ups:
More than 50% of pick-ups happen within 3 mins of a previous session.
More than 70% of our phone pick-ups are less than 2 mins long
So, a single pick up usually sets off a chain reaction. And every single pick up disrupts our flow of thinking and work.
Research has shown that even the presence of a turned-off smartphone lowered cognitive performance.
The quality and efficiency of our work drops not just when we pick up our phones but also when they are just lying around us. This is evidently an issue hampering our work and here are a few simple solutions to tackle it:
· Delete/Log off Social Media apps: Now, deleting an app like Instagram and Twitter would be tough for anyone in this age but logging out of these apps isn’t. Even switching off notifications during work is a good idea.
· Make a distraction-free home screen: Our home screens scream distraction. Haven’t we scrolled through a food delivery app just because we were bored? Clearing out our home screen makes it tougher for these apps to reach us.
· DND when working: This is a no brainer. Activate Do Not Disturb on your phones while you work.
· Internet Breaks: Work in short 30 min bursts with the internet blocked. There’s a reason why the Pomodoro technique is regarded highly across the world.
· Shift your screen time to your laptop: Your smartphones are bombarded with push notifications throughout the day making it easier for you to get distracted.
Controlling our phone usage is the key to productivity at work. And I hope this short article gave you some actionable insights to build on.
Happy working!
