Frazzing, a term attributed to Edward Hallowell (who has written several terrific books about dealing with ADD), is addictive. As with other addictions, its victims easily rationalize that they have to frazz if they hope to get their work done at all. They insist on this even in the face of evidence that asserts that the financial loss due to this activity is "$588 billion a year — more than the gross domestic product of Argentina."
It's supposed to be derived from "frantic multitasking," but I think it's related to the word frazzle, as in "I was worn to a frazzle by all that danged multitasking."
So the mystery remains; how can people delude themselves that they get more done by frazzing when one professor's study found that when people were interrupted, "it took them another 23 minutes and 15 seconds, on average, to get back to what they were originally doing." Do the math, folks.
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