FlowoThe cost of switching
Laboratory studies of task switching find that people respond more slowly and make more errors just after changing tasks, even when they know the change is coming (Monsell). Work-style experiments found something similar at a larger scale. People who moved on from an unfinished task kept thinking about it, and did worse on the next one. The author called this attention residue (Leroy).
Where it hides in a day
- Walking to a meeting room, or finding the call link and fixing your audio.
- Opening the right files and re-reading where you stopped.
- Getting out of the house: keys, coat, the thing you forgot.
- Coming back from a meal and settling again.
Planning for it
Leave a few minutes between blocks instead of stacking them, and more before anything that involves travel. Group similar tasks so fewer switches happen. Some people write down the next step before they stop, so the unfinished task is easier to set down.
How Flowo handles this
Flowo places tasks around the events, meals, rest and sleep you set and shows how long each block is, so the gaps are visible. When a switch takes longer than planned, Recovery can rebuild the rest of the day when you ask. Read how re-planning works.