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For 98 Percent of People, Multitasking Kills Productivity [infographic]

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Despite what many might think about the merits of doing several things at once, for 98 percent of us, multitasking kills productivity. This infographic details some of the many reasons why.

The biggest driver of productivity losses due to multitasking is distraction. Those who work on computers get distracted once every 10.5 minutes, on average. That amounts to over two hours a day and 546 hours a year just due to interruptions like phone calls, emails and digital notifications.

Distractions, it turns out, overwhelm our brain and momentarily confuse it. Studies have found that interruptions drop our IQ by about 10 points — that’s double the effect of smoking marijuana, and about the same as pulling an all-nighter. The consequences of multitasking don’t just extend to work, either: drivers who use a cellphone have the same reaction time as someone who’s legally drunk.

Check out the infographic below for more revelations.

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(Photo credit: Mashable)

Marissa Brassfield
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