Co-Workers Make You 20% Dumber

Have you ever told your co-workers (or wanted to) that they were making you dumber, just by being there? If have have, you are kind of right.

You knew it had to have some validity, and believe it or not, it happens every single time your co-workers talk to you about the weather, your big weekend plans, and what happened on "The Voice".

According to a study out of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, every time your co-workers talk to you and distract you, you immediately become 20% stupider.

A separate study found the average officer worker only gets 11 minutes of work done between interruptions. Unfortunately, it can take almost half an hour to fully focus again after you're interrupted. Based on that math, you may never be able to get back to a place of full productivity.

The researchers at Carnegie Mellon DID find the best defense. If you tell yourself you're definitely going to be interrupted at any moment, it actually helps you focus and improves your productivity.