Research by Basex indicates that distriactions consume as much as 28% of a person's workday, costing American productivity to the tune of $650 bil annually (BusinessWeek, June 23, 2008).  Further, Gary Marcus, author of Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind, says that humans are interruption driven because they must be alert to change.  He contends that humans are not built to stay on task.

Exacerbating the issue is research that shows that once distracted, it takes a person almost 30 minutes on average to get back on task, according to Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California-Irvine.

This basic problem of human psychology has created a new industry for the development of electronic and computer based tools to prioritize the flood of information that causes most interruptions.  Some are as simple as programs that hold emails and only release them at pre-programmed times, to others that prioritize communications and only allow through essential ones.

These attention-user interfaces still have a long way to go before their reliability makes them must-haves for improving productivity and concentration.  However, managers and leaders can still fight the battle by recognizing the existence of this problem, and observing their work teams to pinpoint what within their own organization contributes to distractions and productivity loss.

On a regular basis, observe your team's workflow.   Can you discover outdated processes or log jams?  Look for tasks that force workers to interrupt others as part of their efforts to complete.  While electronic and computer aids can make life easier, there will be a cost.  You can begin now through careful observation--and at much less cost.