Menu

Menu

People Are Healthier When They Fidget

Posted By admin In Tablets, Smartphones & Other Electronic Equipment, Research & Studies Comments 0

Recently, the American Council on Science and Health found that “any type of movement (even fidgeting) can be beneficial for one’s health.” The study of 12,000+ British women aged 37 to 78 (published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine) suggests that fidgeting may “reduce some of the negative health effects” of sitting for long periods of time.

Janet Cade, professor of nutritional epidemiology at the University of Leeds, UK, monitored study participants from 1999 to 2002 and followed up with them in 2014. The research suggests that it’s best to avoid sitting for long periods of time (by either getting up every 30-60 minutes to move for a few minutes), and that fidgeting appears to be beneficial.

In other studies of children, long periods of inactivity produced changes in their blood circulation and arteries. Extrapolating the data to adults, this could result in cardiovascular problems.

Given the research, it appears, whether you’re fidgeting at your desk, or not, it is best to get up and move around at least every half hour. A minute two of standing, stretching, walking, or other activity may improve your health.

To learn more:

Sitting Time, Fidgeting, and All-Cause Mortality in the UK Women’s Cohort Study

Interruptions Do Impact Quality of Work

Posted By admin In Research & Studies Comments 0

Interruptions are universally common at home and in the office; however, little is known about the influence disruptions have on quality of work.

According to a study published by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, office employees are interrupted an average of six times every hour!  The research study, “Do Interruptions Affect Quality of Work”was designed to determine if interruptions negatively impact quality of work.

The study found that “quality of work was significantly reduced in both interruption conditions when compared to the non-interruption condition,” and that interruptions are detrimental to performance.

According to the authors of the study, we should minimize unnecessary interruptions when possible.  Some suggestions we’ve compiled include:

  • For most of us in office settings, email is a high level activity and a principle form of communication; however, it can be disruptive and negatively impact productivity and quality while we are working on an important task.  Solution: When working on a designated task, it may be helpful to set aside time to work on the task and designate set periods of time to check new email – perhaps every 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Turn off notifications(email/chat/apps) – this will stop external distractions and allow you to take the time to review them during a break from your task.
  • Turn off cell phone / designate set periods of time to check messages
  • Self-interruptions happen when you abandon an ongoing task before you finish it, in order to direct your attention to a different task, without being prompted by an external event or another person.  One way to minimize self-interruptions is to plan your interruptions in advance.  Write down an “if…then” statement to use when you lose focus.  For example, “if I get mentally tired working on this task, then I will clean up my email for 10 minutes, etc.”

References:

Do Interruptions Affect Quality of Work? (Cyrus K. Foroughi, Nicole E. Werner, Erik T. Nelson, Deborah A. Boehm-Davis), George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) is the world's largest nonprofit individual-member, multidisciplinary scientific association for human factors/ergonomics professionals, with more than 4,800 members globally.