Tasks Interrupted: How Anticipating Time Pressure on Resumption of an Interrupted Task Causes Attention Residue and Low Performance on Interrupting Tasks and How a “Ready-to-Resume” Plan Mitigates the Effects

Sophie Leroy () and Theresa M. Glomb ()
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Sophie Leroy: School of Business, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, Washington 98011
Theresa M. Glomb: Department of Work and Organizations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

Organization Science, 2018, vol. 29, issue 3, 380-397

Abstract: This paper explores the attention regulation challenges brought by interruptions. In contrast to much of the research on interruptions that looks at the effects on the interrupted task, this paper examines the difficulty of focusing attention and performing well on interrupting tasks. Integrating research on attention residue, time pressure, and implementation intention, we predict that when people anticipate resuming their interrupted work under time pressure, they will find it difficult to switch their attention to the interrupting task, leading to attention residue and low performance. A ready-to-resume intervention, in which one briefly reflects on and plans one’s return to the interrupted task, mitigates this effect such that attention residue is reduced and performance on the interrupting task does not suffer. Data collected across four studies support these hypotheses.

Keywords: attention regulation; attention residue; cognition; interruptions; task performance; task transition; time pressure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:29:y:2018:i:3:p:380-397

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