Are you a leader who expects your team to respond immediately? Do you model constant texting, emailing, and calling while expecting a response immediately? Let them focus offline!
Context or task switching leads to decision fatigue, cognitive overload, and a decrease in productivity up to 43%! (Source: Asana Anatomy of Work Index). It depletes concentration and reduces our ability to prioritize.
What's task switching? Going back and forth between multiple programs or systems with different outcomes of thought.
Example: I'm creating a presentation for TEVET.
I have my presentation open, their scorecard summary, and an email from the COO on their challenges. This is okay because all I'm thinking about is TEVET.
But…if I'm creating that presentation and then get buzzed with a text, go back to the presentation, get an email ping from my boss, go back to the presentation, attend a meeting, and then go back yet again….that's wasted time and lost productivity.
Great leaders allow for focused work time where staff can work offline or with their email shut down.
Did you hire your staff for their reactive email-checking abilities? Or was it because they were strategic thinkers, exceptional writers, creative marketers, or game-changing coders?
Let them focus!
Encourage them to schedule time solo or have organized team or company offline time.
Don't let task-switching cost you money, lead to burnout, and create longer work hours.
