The Tax You Pay When You Switch
Explain attention residue and protect one task from avoidable switches.
The hidden cost of switching is the work your mind keeps doing after you have "moved on." The residue loop Attention residue begins when a previous task still feels open. The mind keeps a small process running: What did they mean? Did I answer? What happens if I do not respond? That process steals capacity from the next task. The deep-work need Deep work needs more than time. It needs continuity. Complex work gets easier after the first 10-20 minutes because the relevant ideas are loaded into working memory. Switches unload them and replace them with fragments from the new…
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