Down from 2.5 minutes in 2004. Dr. Gloria Mark, UC Irvine, tracked the collapse over two decades. After an interruption, full cognitive refocus takes 23 minutes. Source: Mark, UC Irvine (2024)
117 emails. 153 Teams messages. 85% read in under 15 seconds. Each interruption triggers attention residue: fragments of prior tasks that persist and deplete prefrontal resources. Source: Microsoft Work Trend Index (2025)
Not tiredness. Burnout.. Neuroimaging shows gray-matter reduction in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. It shows up on scans before it shows up in performance reviews. Source: Mind Share Partners (2025)
Self-reported cognitive disability nearly doubled between 2013 and 2023 in this age group. This is not an aging problem. A Yale 2025 analysis confirmed the trend is accelerating. Source: Yale School of Public Health (2025)
