Workplace Distractions: Here's Why You Won't Finish This Article Flashcards
open-plan
Off-screen, in your open-plan office, crosstalk about a colleague’s preschooler might lure you away, or a co-worker may stop by your desk for a quick question.
[ADJ] An open-plan building, office, or room has no internal walls dividing it into smaller areas.
multiply [mʌltɪplaɪ]1
frazzled [|fræz əl] 1
As screens multiply and managers push frazzled workers to do more with less, companies say the problem is worsening and is affecting business.
[VERB] When something multiplies or when you multiply it, it increases greatly in number or amount.
[NOUN] [informal] the state of being frazzled or exhausted
custom-built
the modern workday seems custom-built to destroy individual focus.
[VERB] If something is custom-built, it is built according to someone’s special requirements.
insulation [ɪnsəleɪʃən] 1 3
chatter [tʃætər]1
Open-plan offices and an emphasis on collaborative work leave workers with little insulation from colleagues’ chatter.
[NOUN] Insulation is a thick layer of a substance that keeps something warm, especially a building.단열, 차단
[VERB] If you chatter, you talk quickly and continuously, usually about things which are not important.[noun]
scramble to [skræmbəl] 1
on the margins
A ceaseless tide of meetings and internal emails means that workers increasingly scramble to get their “real work” done on the margins, early in the morning or late in the evening.
[VERB] If you scramble to a different place or position, you move there in a hurried, awkward way.
*남는 자투리 시간에/주변부에
이러한 모든 것들이 계속 당신에게 오는 가운데 매일매일 일 끝내는 것이 어렵습니다(사투입니다.)
it’s a struggle “to get work done on a daily basis, with all these things coming at you”
한 번 페이스를 잃으면, 원래의 일로 돌아 가는데 23분이 소요됩니다.
Once thrown off track, it can take some 23 minutes for a worker to return to the original task.
*once thrown off track
squeeze in
heads-down
thrum[θrʌm]
his 200 employees had grown stressed trying to squeeze in more heads-down, focused work amid the daily thrum of email and meetings.
*to just manage to fit somebody/something into a short period of time
*work or study hard(get your head down)
[VERB] When something such as a machine or engine thrums, it makes a low beating sound.
obliterate [əblɪtəreɪt] 2
At meetings, attendees were often checking email, trying to multitask and in the process obliterating their focus.
[VERB] [LITERARY] If you obliterate something such as a memory, emotion, or thought, you remove it completely from your mind.
이메일은 나중해 처리해도 되는 메세지를 위해 보관됩니다.
Email was reserved for messages that could wait.
*that could wait 나중에 해도 되는
log [lɔ:g]
Workers now pick up the phone more, logging fewer internal emails and say they’ve got clarity on what’s urgent and what’s not.
[VERB] If you log an event or fact, you record it officially in writing or on a computer.
직원들은 여전히 고객이나 동료들로부터 오는 이메일을 매일매일 확인해야 합니다.
Staff still have to stay current with emails from clients or co-workers.
*stay current/up to date with 매일 매일 ~을 확인하다
institute [ɪnstɪtu:t] 1
Ms. Roberson of eBay recently instituted a no-device policy during some team meetings, a change that she says has made gatherings more efficient.
[VERB] [FORMAL] If you institute a system, rule, or course of action, you start it.
block out
So earlier this fall, managers decided to pilot a program allowing employees to block out several hours a week for heads-down work.
*to stop light or noise from coming in; to cover or hide something
frenetic [frɪnetɪk] 2
others have caught up on the work they’re unable to get to during frenetic workdays
[ADJ] If you describe an activity as frenetic, you mean that it is fast and energetic, but rather uncontrolled.
