{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/break-the-batch-when-delay-costs-more-than-the-switch",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9061",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Break the batch when delay costs more than the switch",
  "summary": "The goal is lower total friction, not a perfect batching streak.",
  "kind": "heuristic",
  "body": "Use a simple exception rule: interrupt the batch when the expected cost of waiting is clearly larger than the cost of changing context. Consider dependency count, deadline, reversibility and the time needed for the other person or system to respond after you act. This prevents batching from turning into local optimization where your clean schedule creates idle time elsewhere. After the exception, leave a restart cue and return rather than letting one justified switch dissolve the rest of the block.",
  "limits": [
    "The comparison is qualitative unless you have useful data. Do not invent precision or let every requester define their own item as costly to delay."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-task-batching-and-context-control"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-F8C1488AFEE2A312",
    "RS-F9F873DF5BF97DD5"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "An integrative review reports performance costs in many dual-task and task-switching conditions compared with appropriate single-task controls.",
      "source_id": "RS-F8C1488AFEE2A312",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Switching can be necessary and adaptive; the review does not imply that uninterrupted work or large batches are always optimal.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A systematic review and meta-analysis of laboratory studies found interruption-management interventions improved primary-task accuracy and reduced resumption lag on average, with effects varying by intervention and task.",
      "source_id": "RS-F9F873DF5BF97DD5",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Laboratory findings do not identify one universal batching schedule for real professional work.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A batch is efficient locally but one waiting item may block a person, decision, shipment, repair or downstream task."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "The comparison is qualitative unless you have useful data. Do not invent precision or let every requester define their own item as costly to delay."
  ],
  "example": "Answering a two-minute clarification now can be rational if five people cannot continue without it; answering a routine status question now may not be.",
  "check": "Exceptions are justified by downstream delay or risk, and a restart cue preserves the interrupted batch.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-F8C1488AFEE2A312",
      "title": "Cognitive structure, flexibility, and plasticity in human multitasking—An integrative review of dual-task and task-switching research",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29517261/"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-F9F873DF5BF97DD5",
      "title": "Effects of interventions to reduce the negative consequences of interruptions on task performance: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and narrative synthesis of laboratory studies",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34273814/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9061",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9057",
      "type": "compare_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/batch-by-setup-state-not-only-by-task-label"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-C46D60854E0EAA15",
      "title": "Batch repeated work without turning batching into a rule",
      "url": "/collections/batch-repeated-work-without-turning-batching-into-a-rule"
    }
  ]
}