The Perils of Context-Switching and How to Deal With It

Listen on Spotify.

As you start reading this article, I bet you’re already thinking of something else. A notification just popped up, or an email just hit your inbox It won’t be long before the temptation overwhelms you and you click on it. Just that, you’re on to the next task and never come back to finish reading this article.

Sound familiar?

It is becoming ever more common for our days to feel like a Sisyphean struggle between our leaky attention and dealing with endless emails and messages which drain our reserves of energy.  We engage in far too much context-switching and waste both time and energy. Thus, we all too often end up getting nothing important done, and our productivity plummets.

Later, I’ll share some strategies you can implement to make better use of your attention and reduce the amount of time you spend context-switching during a typical workday.

First, though, let’s find out more about the costs of jumping from one task to another and why we are all prone to doing it.

What is Context-Switching?

Context-switching is a term that originated in the field of computing. It describes how operating systems ran several different processes from a single processing unit. When we switch between apps, our computer transfers processing power to fulfil our most recent request, pausing the previous one until we return to it.

Technology can do this seamlessly and without delay. Our brains, in contrast, cannot.

When we jump between tasks, we pay the price. Our attention is divided between multiple tasks and even when we return to our original tasks after being distracted by an email, part of our attention remains on the message.

This is called an attention residue. This happens each time we are interrupted, even if the interruptions are short. It can build up over the course of a day. Part of your focus is taken up by something else, which makes it more difficult for us to finish our original task. Thus, the level of our performance decreases, and the thinker the residue is (the more we have moved from one task to another), the worse our performance. Our productivity drops as a result.

The cost of clicking on that notification, or checking that email, was therefore much more than the 5 minutes it took away from the other task you were focused on. You also incurred an attentional residue that had a detrimental effect on your productivity that is difficult to quantify. You could eventually become mentally exhausted, which could cause your productivity to drop even further.

So why do we do it?

Why do We Context-Switch?

If context-switching takes such a toll on our attention and productivity, why do we do it so often that it has become natural, and we often do not even realise we’re doing it? Here are a few reasons.

Our technology is designed to interrupt up

Technology has transformed how we live and work, and the number of apps we use in our everyday working lives has grown exponentially. Every tool we use adds another layer of complexity because each of these tools is designed to grab our attention and interrupt us.

Most of us can’t go for more than about 5 minutes without checking for messages, and sending messages is easier than finding ways to reduce the number of messages we send or figuring out how we can use the apps to help us be more productive.

We are confronted with too much information

The limits of memory and the sheer amount of information available to us make it impossible to retain everything we encounter in our lives, even if some of that information is important. A Dominican friar named Vincent of Beauvais first noted this in 1255.

When we consider how much more information we have access to in the 21^st century, it’s no wonder we struggle to deal with it all. We end up context-switching in an attempt to manage. Even IT professions have yet to develop systems that are advance enough to cope, so it is inevitable that we humans pay a price in the form of the deceased quality of attention we are able to give to each message or notification that interrupts us, which results in information being lost.

Responsiveness is rewarded

In many workplaces, there is an expectation that people should respond to team messages and emails as soon as possible. This expectation makes a degree of context-switching inevitable. The modern expectation that employees always make themselves available in the workplace is a marked change from more old-fashioned practices which saw employees concentrating on one type of task until completion before moving on to the next task.

On to the final main reason we jump between tasks.

Our brains respond to novelty

We are as likely to interrupt ourselves as we are to be interrupted by something external. Our brains adapt to changes in our environment. The ability to respond to such changes has an impact on the skills we develop and those we lose.

As humans, we crave new information and wish to connect with others. That is part of what makes social media so attractive. However, constant exposure to it can diminish our ability to focus and process information.

Notifications are designed to trigger the brain’s love of novelty, which stimulates the production of dopamine and keeps us coming back for more. As you probably know from experience, if we have multiple tabs open on our screens, we itch to look at them all.

While scientists still don’t fully the impact technology has on human psychology, it’s clear our brains respond well to distraction.

What Is the Cost of Context-Switching?

We’ve seen that the environments we live and work in encourage context-switching to keep up with the ceaseless flow of information. Now let’s look at the cost of doing so.

It is detrimental to productivity

Our brains react to many stimuli when we context-switch. Our brains must then select an appropriate response, from an array of options. This slows down our thought processes and hampers decision-making. One consequence is that upon returning to the task that was interrupted it can take us up to refocus on the task at hand. Even short delays in our thought process caused by frequent interruptions can steal 40% of our productive time.

It slows cognitive function and cheapens the quality of our attention

Our brains are flooded with information when we jump from one task to another before the first is complete. The problem is the capacity of our working memory is limited to about 3 -7 bits of information at any one time.

This means that context-switching takes up vital headspace we need to process the information we’ve already got to manage. Thus, our attention is divided, and we incur an ‘attentional tax’ which worsens each time we are interrupted and makes it harder to focus on tasks and work in an effective and productive manner.

It takes up energy

When we go between multiple screens, we get an adrenaline boost and an injection of stress hormones. At some point though, our energy is spent, and we will eventually crash and may even suffer from burnout and depression if we don’t give our brains a chance to reboot and make time for rest and relaxation.

Context-switching can make it harder to sort out priorities

Context-switching narrows the focus and makes it harder for us to take a step away from work to strategize and concentrate on high-value tasks that should be a priority. Instead, we end up working on low-value tasks which are more immediate but less important, like responding to messages as they hit our inboxes. We follow the instinct to accomplish anything, whatever that is. Thus, to preserve our depleted stores of energy, we reach for low-hanging fruit instead of expending that energy working on what really matters, even if that works requires more thought and demands a bigger time commitment.

It’s time to lay out strategies we can use to reduce context-switching and lessen the impact it has on our productivity.

How to Deal with Context-Switching

There are several advantages to reducing context-switching. It can mean finishing work early so that it doesn’t take up a chunk of our family or leisure time. We can more easily slip into a state of flow, allowing us to work to the best of our ability. We can also obtain a measure of peace in a busy world.

Here are several ways you can limit context-switching and get more done.

• Jot down any tasks that impinge upon your concentration so that you can create headspace and stay focused on the task you’re doing. We are wired to focus on interrupted and unfinished tasks, this phenomenon is known as the Zeigarnik Effect, so getting stuff off our minds can help prevent us from getting distracted. You can make a list with pen and paper or with an app like Notion.
• Create a framework to help your order tasks. This will help you begin tasks all the sooner because you won’t waste energy deciding what to work on. You can use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you decide what is urgent, non-urgent, important, and unimportant.
• Use time blocking to devote chunks of time to a particular task or collection of tasks.
• Use Pomodoro Method or Flowtime Technique to ensure you take regular breaks so you can remain productive for longer.
• Move during your breaks to take time away from screens and refresh your mind.
• Do what you can to get rid of as many distractions as possible. Writing distractions down might be a good place to start. If you keep a record for a week, you may be able to pinpoint what triggers some context-switching or notices times when you are more likely to get distracted.
• Review all the apps you use and decide if there’re any you can discard.
• Cut down on the number of emails that interrupt you. Set up an auto-reply and only check your inbox at pre-set times throughout the day.

Wrapping Up

Well done for getting to this point and not jumping to another task (a bit cheeky, but we couldn’t resist). We’ve covered what context-switching is, why we do it and what it costs us. We hope you are now more aware of the dangers and consequences of jumping from one thing to another before one task is complete.

Follow some of the strategies and tips shared here and see if it helps reduce context-switching. You may even notice a significant difference in your productivity.

Thanks for reading and do feel free to let us know how you get on in the comments. Good luck!