Attention Residue is Killing Your Focus and Productivity — Explained.

Here’s Full Explanation plus, how to Deal with the Effect :

Let’s Understand the term “Attention Residue”

The term "Attention Residue" is coined by Sophie Leroy. She is an Associate Professor of Management at the UW Bothell School of Business.

What’s the actual Definition?

When you switch from task A to another task B, your attention doesn't follow immediately.

A residue of your attention from previous task A still remains struck thinking about the original task.

This effect works at an optimum level of the previous work done is of less quality and completed with low intensity of focus.

As people more often likes to work on more than one project at a time and that leads to low intensity of focused work.

This tends to get low quality work produced as we compared to the scenario in which the work is done without being distracted and only one specific work is done.

Leroy studied the effect of this attention residue on performance by forcing task switches in the laboratory.

• Experiment Done on Subjects

In one such experiment, she started her subjects working on a set of word puzzles. In other trials, she let the subjects finish the puzzles before giving them or allowing to switch to the next task.

She wanted to know the decision taking process in our minds. This leads to an important principle of learning and acquiring hard and complex things as we transfer simultaneously from one task to other.

A small part of our attention from the original work keeps disturbing the other work done afterwards.

People experiencing attention residue after switching tasks are likely to demonstrate poor performance on that next task.

Thus, we came to a formulised principle of attention residue which is The more intense the residue, the worse the performance.

That clarifies attention residue is inversely proportional to the quality of work produced in a given time.

So, how you can minimise the effect of attention residue.

This can be done by working on a single task for a long period of time without being distracted or being affected by other work.

This effect gets terminated if done in a isolation. This effect can be eliminated perfectly by using to Adam Grant’s formulaic conception of productivity (which I will cover in next article).

• When am I more at risk of experiencing attention residue?

you gonna have higher chances of attention residue as due to "unfinished work" or pending work.

If a project is considered to be most important project and the project work has not been completed by you.

It will affect your working ability and power of lenses of concentration to get focused on your other least important work of the day.

That unfinished work would be pinned at top by your working neurones. That will ruin your whole working day. It’s totally different from multitasking.

• Multitasking vs Attention Residue

Multitasks means doing more than one tasks back and forth whereas Attention Residue Effected by switching from task A to task B.

It’s transition from one task to another not doing several task at one time.

She writes “You might not be as efficient in your work, you might not be as good a listener, you may get overwhelmed more easily, you might make errors, or struggle with decisions and your ability to process information.”

• How to get reduced attention residue.

This can be reduced by completing getting done from the original task. The work you’re doing transit totally from it.

Never talk about that project/work afterwards. Just clear your mind from your recent tasks. Forget what’s happening just energize yourself.

Go to walk, Read, Drink Water, Solve a Puzzle.

• Work in isolation.

Working in isolation can be effective in this effect. Don’t make anyone disturb you from doing your work. Get yourself locked for several hours. Enter in the productive mode. Increase your intensity of focus that will help you to produce a quality content at a elite level.