19 checked facts

Productivity

Everything on this site about productivity — each one naming the study behind it.

The complexity of a task makes you procrastinate less.
Parkinson's Law of Triviality states that the time spent on any item of an agenda is in inverse proportion to the amou…
You are more likely to reach goals you write down by hand.
A 2014 study suggested that handwriting may promote deeper processing of information than typing, though subsequent at…
Moderate background noise actually improves your creative thinking performance.
A 2012 study found that 70 decibels of ambient noise enhances performance on creative tasks, while 85 decibels proves …
You lose time with every shift in focus.
A 2001 study found that task-switching costs result in significant drops in efficiency when moving between different t…
Your brain prioritizes unfinished tasks to force closure.
The Zeigarnik effect dictates that interrupted tasks are remembered significantly better than completed ones.…
You prioritize trivial tasks because they offer immediate completion.
The mere urgency effect shows people choose tasks with shorter deadlines over tasks with higher rewards.…
You consistently underestimate how much time a task requires.
People exhibit a deep-seated bias to overlook potential obstacles when creating their own personal schedules.…
Your brain learns more by spreading study over time.
A 1978 study by Landauer and Bjork confirmed that information is retained better when study sessions are spaced out.…
You get more done by pairing chores with treats.
Temptation bundling increases adherence to difficult tasks by combining them with immediate gratification.…
Your performance improves solely because you are watched.
The Hawthorne effect describes how being observed alters your behavior.…
You are systematically wrong about your own schedule.
The planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete a future task.…
You work significantly faster as you approach a goal.
The goal gradient effect shows that the closer you are to finishing a task, the more effort you invest to complete it.…
You work less hard when you think you are in a team.
While Ringelmann's 1913 study observed that group output is less than the sum of individual efforts, he attributed thi…
You assume your current project will finish on time.
A 1994 study of students found they completed senior thesis projects 20 days later than their own most realistic estim…
You exert less individual effort when working in groups.
The phenomenon of reduced individual output in groups is known as the Ringelmann effect, which was later named social …
You complete tasks in the time you allocate, regardless of complexity.
Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.…
You believe your future work will be faster today.
People consistently underestimate how long tasks take, even with past evidence.…
You exert less effort when you are not alone.
A 1913 study found that individuals pulling on a rope in a group exert less force than when pulling individually.…
Unfinished tasks linger in your memory much longer.
A classic 1927 study found that people remember interrupted tasks roughly twice as well as completed ones.…