Effects of work interruptions on performance and workload

We experimentally investigated whether people react differently to interruptions from the same context than the task and interruptions from a different context. We found that context does not make a difference but surprisingly, people completed interrupted tasks in less time but with the same quality than uninterrupted tasks. Our data suggests that people compensate for interruptions by working faster, but this comes at a price: experiencing more stress, higher frustration, time pressure and effort.