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Fifteen Minutes

Law is not quantum physics, but nonetheless requires some heavy lifting.  Why then do lawyers check e-mail and phone messages constantly?  In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.Yes, multi-tasking is a myth.  Why does the myth persist?  Like all myths, multi-tasking lives on because it's personally comforting, and expressive of wider culture.Hard work is hard.  It's comforting to think we're working hard, without actually exerting ourselves.  Switching back-and-forth between mindless tasks to real work makes us feel productive without actually getting the headaches that accompany actual work...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on January 01, 2010 (boomark / email).