Fast forward to the 25:55 mark of this presentation from Tony Shwartz.
There he builds up to provide a startling scientific finding. Every time we go away from the task at hand - check email, Facebook, etc - "we are increasing the amount of time it will take to finish the task by 25%".
Every time.
I'm as guilty as anyone of this. While working I simultaneously open 5 browsers to jump around from one thing to another. I've always regarded it as a creative quirk. One of those characteristics of why I'm in the business of ideas.
But it is bullshit, and I'm much more of a realist than a romantic. The idea of not leaving work burned out is the holy grail I'm going to starting marching towards.
The first step is scheduling breaks rather than taking them at will. Wish me luck.
