The original title is: "The hidden cost of context switching and five evidence-based ways to reduce it"

Short summary

Context switching imposes a hidden cognitive tax every time you jump between tasks, with research showing it takes an average of 23 minutes to refocus after an interruption and that average screen-focus duration has dropped to just 47 seconds. The article explains the neuroscience behind switch costs, attention residue, and why ADHD brains are hit even harder, then offers five practical fixes: batch communication, work in defined focus blocks, close loops before switching, kill self-interruptions, and protect recovery time. Workers who batched communication and worked in longer focus blocks produced 37% more output than real-time responders despite feeling less busy.

• •Context switching costs ~23 minutes of refocus time per interruption; average focus duration has dropped to 47 seconds
• •ADHD brains face 3x higher switch costs; attention residue keeps part of your mind stuck on prior tasks
• •Five fixes: batch comms, use 45-90 min focus blocks, close loops before switching, kill self-interruptions, protect recovery time

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