It's real.

You finally get focused on the project plan, the important email response, or the presentation that is due next week.

Suddenly, a new meeting pops up for "just a quick chat" 30 minutes from now. Or, if you are at the office someone shows up at the door around 4:38 p.m. and wants to talk about whatever for a few minutes. Yet, when the clock strikes 5 p.m., they suddenly wrap up the conversation quickly. No more space filling for the day, the clock says they are done.

Task interference doesn't matter for some work. In other respects, the interference may be ok for the work, but drag on the mental state of the person dealing with the constant re-direction of mind and action.

Of course, in all of this the performance suffers - individual, team, organizational, and personal business.

Take notice if you aren't already. A 15 minute conversation may seem harmless, but it can often derail you from the work day for more than an hour. Deal with that a few times in one work day, and you aren't getting too far with the work.

The first step is to notice and then you get to decide what to do about it so you can offer up your best work.