Alba International: Your Phone is More Damaging to Work Productivity Than You Think

    SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, August 06, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alba International are investigating the damage a mobile device has on productivity when people are trying to concentrate on a task. It has been found that multitasking can be counterproductive when working towards a task. People know that they can't do two things at once very well and that it takes a while to refocus when switching from one task to another. It is encouraged mostly now to complete one task at a time.

About Alba International: http://www.albainternational.com.au/

When looking into research conducted by Cary Stothart, Ainsley Mitcham and Courtney Yehnert of Florida State University, Alba International were interested to find the results, as they feel it affects most people's work productivity. In a controlled setting in 2013, they recruited 212 undergraduate students at FSU to participate in an experiment. The students would come to their lab, provide their phone numbers, emails, and other information, and then complete a Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). This measures sustained attention, or the ability to focus on one task without drifting off and thinking about something else. The task had students press a key any time a number flashed on a computer screen, unless that number was "3." They did this for about 10 minutes -- this was the first "block" of the task that gave researchers a measure of baseline performance and then they had a minute-long break. Meanwhile, a computer had randomly assigned participants to one of three groups. So after the break, one-third of participants started receiving text messages as they completed the SART a second time (the second block), while one-third received phone calls, and another third served as a control didn't get anything. The key result that Alba International are excited to find out is whether concentration is lost even if the notification isn't responded to, just heard.

The findings collaborated confirm what Alba International thought. According to Stothart, when they compared the first block of the task to the second block, the probability of making an error increased by 28% in the group that received phone calls. For the group who received text messages, they made 23% more errors than they did during the first half of the experiment. The group who received no notifications made only 7% more errors. "That comes, we think, just from task fatigue," Stothart said. "So if you're doing this tedious task for a while, your performance declines regardless of whether or not you receive notifications." The key findings are that regardless of interaction with the phone, they cause distraction and a reduction in productivity, and possibly more importantly the quality of work delivered.

Alba International have dedicated a lot of time to ensure that their productivity remains high so that they can continue to deliver the high results their clients have come to expect. They believe it is important to eliminate distractions that impact the productivity and standard of service the company offers its clients. Alba International support the ethos 'work hard, play hard'. The firm host a variety of team building activities and crew nights out to help their representatives' increase their confidence and develop stronger internal relationships and boost morale.

Alba International strategically develops innovative direct marketing campaigns that are presented to consumers in engaging methods that are memorable and personalised.

For more information Follow @AlbaInterPty and 'Like' them on Facebook.

# # #