Triage interruptions before acting on them

When something interrupts you, categorize it as urgent-now or capture-for-later before deciding whether to switch.

Why it works

Most interruptions generate an automatic orienting response — the brain has a hard-wired tendency to redirect attention toward novel stimuli, which evolved for threat detection. In a knowledge-work environment, this response fires for trivial notifications as readily as for genuine priorities. Inserting a deliberate triage step introduces executive control between the interrupt signal and the switch decision, converting an automatic reaction into a conscious choice.

How to do it

1. When interrupted (notification, knock, email), pause before acting and ask: "If I don’t respond in the next 15 minutes, does something bad actually happen?"
2. If no — write it on your capture list and return to current task.
3. If yes — note where you are on the current task (next step, blocking issue) so re-entry is fast, then handle the interruption.
4. After handling an urgent interruption, give yourself 2–3 minutes to re-read your last output before continuing.

Evidence

Research on interruptions in office environments (Mark et al.) found that after an interruption, it took an average of 23 minutes for workers to return to the original task. The triage approach is a behavioral intervention targeting this recovery cost. (observational)

The "23 minutes" finding is frequently cited but the sample was small and methodology specific; the directional finding (interruptions impose large recovery costs) is consistent across studies.

Sources

• Mark, Gudith & Klocke (2008), the cost of interrupted work, CHI Conference

Common mistake

Triaging by importance alone rather than also by timing — an important-but-non-urgent task is still worth deferring during a deep focus session.