Although this is primarily about "creative" work, the same is at least as true for mind-numbing administrative work, for two reasons: 1. If you don't really ca

Although this is primarily about "creative" work, the same is at least as true for mind-numbing administrative work, for two reasons: 1. If you don't really care that much for what you're doing (you have a worthless report due in three days) it's not as easy to get back in the zone as when you're doing something important. 2. You're happy to be distracted when doing something you don't care about. That makes sense - the distraction is most likely more important than what you're doing, so you're happy to have the excuse to meet with someone or answer an email. And no, not all administrative work qualifies as creative. It's generally metawork that at best is necessary for your employer to continue to operate. Nobody cares how well you do it.