How much of your workday is sucked away (by distractions)?
Bottom Line: Conversation and research conducted on workday distractions is nothing new. What is new is the research pointing to specifically how much of our workday is sucked away by distractions. According to new research from Future Workplace around three hours per workday is taken away by them. They found that the average person could complete a day’s worth of work in five or fewer hours given the opportunity. Not surprisingly social media, unproductive time in meetings and co-workers interrupting you are lead causes.
What’s evident is that the more intentional you are in minimizing those distractions the more productive you’d be. Imagine if you simply reclaimed two of those three lost hours per day. Some of it, like social media and stopping down to indulge your co-workers, is in your control – so while you might not be able to steer the productivity in meetings – you likely can make a difference in your day if you’re making the effort. Unrelated to distractions the big takeaway in the research is the next big thing in workplace automation and productivity. Email. While email organization exists, it’s clear that when we are on task, the ability to better cut through the clutter in email is the most needed improvement. Most office workers spend the majority of their day working through email. Fingers crossed.