Why The Smartest People Are The Most Distracted At Work, According To Research
Totally makes sense.
Getty A day in the life of the easily distracted person at work looks a lot like this: You've finally settled down at your desk at work.
You've got your coffee or green tea, and you're ready to get started. But you better check your email again, and oh look! There's that new YouTube video that everyone's been talking about.
Oops, better check Facebook and Tiktok and ... wait, what was that funny thing you said to your boss? You better tweet that because it was hilarious.
When you finally get down to work, you have about eight open windows on your computer and have checked your email three times — and that's just the start.
Throughout the day, you may have trouble focusing and will do all kinds of non-work-related activities.
But don't despair — research says the reason that you're easily distracted is because you're really smart.
A 2016 study by the workplace solutions company Steelcase looked at the habits of more than 10,000 workers in 17 countries.
They found that the more intelligent you are, the easier it is for you to become distracted and the more trouble you have prioritizing all the ideas you've bounced around in your head.
Nearly half of the participants said that they struggled to concentrate in the office.
Bostjan Ljubic, who conducted the study, said in an interview with The Daily Mail:
"Employers are always on the lookout for the brightest people available; however, the difficulty to withstand multiple tasks and distractions in the office affects smart people in the same way as everyone else, if not more.
The ways in which we work are changing more rapidly than ever before, and the brain is being subjected to stresses and distractions which can lead to overload."
Since you're super-smart, every time you're struck by one of your genius ideas, you try to deal with as it happens.
But you can end up feeling frustrated, flustered, and distracted.
As you're dealing with everything happening in your head, there are all kinds of additional distracting noises (text alerts, buzzes, messaging, calls).
It's kind of a miracle you get anything done, which also proves how brilliant you are.
A person with limited brain power couldn't accomplish half as much as you.
So don't feel bad when you check your email for the umpteenth time or update your status on social media.
That's just what really smart people do.