lifehacker.com: We know distractions are bad when you're trying to work. But, a new study found that it doesn't matter how many times you're distracted in one period of important work—even one little distraction is enough to derail your productivity.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Visiting Facebook Just Once Can Derail Your Productivity
lifehacker.com: We know distractions are bad when you're trying to work. But, a new study found that it doesn't matter how many times you're distracted in one period of important work—even one little distraction is enough to derail your productivity.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This is by no means news to me. I think that it is a well known thing that to visit Facebook while you are trying to be productive is a massive no no. I know personally I have to make a conscience note to not have Facebook open, because if it is, then I will loose all productivity. Facebook is like a gateway drug. People can post videos or links on Facebook and this can easily lead to the random surfing and soon the complete loss of direction. I could wander the vast open world that is the internet and while I may try to set set limits, alas the breadcrumbs to which I must return by, have been eaten by MEMEs of babies making funny faces and silly cat videos....
Facebook has to be the number one reason for not being productive in 33. If someone is sitting staring at their computer instead of drafting 95% of the time you will find them on Facebook or Tumblr. I'm convinced its actually an epidemic. While doing these blog comments i've looked at Facebook in between each one. The worst thing is that its not even productive procrastination.
It's good to know that what you might think is a brief distraction will still have a great impact on your productivity. One downside to doing so much of our work on the computer is that you're a few keystrokes away from an infinite number of distractions! As Sam said, one of the worst things about procrastinating on social media sites is that it's usually not even productive procrastination. I used to work at home and would take cleaning breaks when I didn't want to work any more. Talk about productive procrastination! But now I don't work at home as much because it's too tempting to just take a nap on the couch or watch TV instead. I like the idea of scheduling social media, and conversely the idea of scheduling your work time and scheduling in breaks. I think that I should do this sort of scheduling more consistently. I am perfectly capable of working for a large chunk of time without checking Facebook, but this was a good reminder that any small distraction can be derailing, and that I should actively find ways to schedule my work and to at least procrastinate productively along the way.
Post a Comment