Interruptions: The Productivity Killer for Some
January 15, 2026
Do you have a sign on your door that says, “Please don’t interrupt”?
Uninterrupted focus is an engaged species says Can Duruk in his Off By One blog post, “The Math of Why You Can’t Focus at Work.” Duruk explains that uninterrupted focus has been dying since the turn of the century and Paul Graham wrote about it in 2009. Graham’s commentary was about how a single meeting can ruin being “in the zone.” These days it’s worse with Slack, Teams, social media, email, texts, and more demanding attention.
Duruk then does what any nerd would do: uses math to prove how much interruptions ruin a day. He runs through all the formulas and uses advanced math to prove his point:
"In this post, I’ll show you what interruption-driven work looks like when you model it with math. Three simple parameters determine whether your day is productive or a write-off. We’ll simulate hundreds of days and build a map of the entire parameter space so you can see exactly where you are and what happens when you change.”
This is above my pay grade but it is a useful tool to prove that too many meetings are a waste of time. Leave people alone to hyper focus on work. It’ll make them happier and more productive.
Whitney Grace, January 15, 2026
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