F·01
Focus & Deep Work
Attention Residue
Part of your attention stays on the previous task — unless you left it with a written plan for resuming.
- Evidence
- shaky
- Topic
- Focus
- Things to do
- 3
- Read
- 1 min
shakyHow strong is the evidence?
Real, but smaller and shakier than the story you have probably heard.
- Sophie Leroy, OBHDP, 2009
- “Why is it so hard to do my work?”
Check it yourself: doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.04.002
A correction to this entry
Downgraded from solid. Leroy's studies are small and there has been little independent replication, although the effect is consistent with what is known about task switching.
Why it works
An unfinished task under time pressure leaves cognitive residue that measurably degrades the next task. A concrete ready-to-resume plan removes most of it.
What to do about it
- Before switching, spend 60 seconds writing where you are and what comes next.
- Batch the same kind of work together so switches are fewer and cheaper.
- Do not check mail “quickly” between two blocks of hard work. That is the most expensive minute of the day.
Where people go wrong
Believing you switch cleanly. Nobody does; the cost is just invisible from the inside.
Read next
- Multitasking Is Just SwitchingYou never do two things at once. You alternate, and every alternation is paid for.proven
- The Phone Doesn't Have to BuzzA smartphone within reach reduces available working memory even when it is face-down, silent and switched off.solid
- Give the Peak to the Hard ThingAnalytic performance peaks in the first hours after waking for most people; protect that window, and spend the trough on admin.solid
- Brief Deactivation Restores AttentionVigilance decays over a long task. Short, complete breaks restore it; “breaks” spent on a screen do not.solid