Multitasking Hurts Overall Work Performance: Study

Focusing too much time and energy on a number of different things at work can result in added stress and inadequate overall performance. Researchers from George Mason University in Washington, D.C., examined just how much of an impact this can create for employees under strenuous pressure in the office.

Findings revealed that the modern office employee is interrupted nearly six times an hour every workday. To determine just how much these interruptions alter working ability, researchers recruited participants to write essays based on various topics and put them in two groups; one that was interrupted multiple times with an unrelated task and the other, which experienced no interruptions. Researchers then scored the essays based on a numbered scale by independent graders.

Findings revealed that those in the group that experienced frequent interruptions typically scored lower regarding the quality and composure of their writing than those who did not deal with any interruptions.

"People don't realize how disruptive interruptions can be," said Foroughi, coauthor of "Do Interruptions Affect Quality of Work?" and a PhD candidate at the university's human factors and applied cognition program, in news release. "There is value in determining whether interruptions affect the quality of the tasks that many people perform regularly, such as writing essays or reports."

"Interruption can cause a noticeable decrement in the quality of work, so it's important to take steps to reduce the number of external interruptions we encounter daily," added Foroughi. "For example, turn off your cell phone and disable notifications such as e-mail while trying to complete an important task."

Researchers concluded that participants who were interrupted during the writing phase also wrote significantly fewer words than those in the control group.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Human Factors.