When switching attention to emotionally charged content (like political news or a confrontational email), a residue of that content remains in the mind like traces on a whiteboard, interfering with the ability to focus on the original task.

causalpending

Speaker

Gloria Mark

Evidence Quote

sometimes when we switch our attention we might get really caught up in something like the news and then you switch back to your project and that event stays with you it's a residue and it's just like with an internal whiteboard it leaves a residue

Source

Tired? Distracted? Burned-Out? Listen to This.The Ezra Klein Show
Created: 8/12/2026, 6:46:08 PM

My Notes

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