Office Distractions That Are Productivity Killers
- 1 of
-
Productivity Killers: Call/Text Me
Half of hirers and workers surveyed said cell phones and texting are prime drains on productivity. -
Productivity Killers: Digital Distraction
39% of them said the Internet is a huge work distraction. -
Productivity Killers: MIA
27% of those surveyed said snack and smoke breaks keep people from doing their jobs. -
Productivity Killers: In Conference
23% complained that meetings take up too much time. -
Productivity Killers: Got a Minute?
23% said that co-workers dropping in to chat is a major productivity drain. -
How Employers Respond: Off-Limits
36% of survey respondents said their company blocks access to certain Internet sites. -
How Employers Respond: Watchful Eye
22% of these companies are monitoring emails and Web usage. -
How Employers Respond: Home Assignment
14% of these organizations allow staffers to work from home to avoid long commutes. -
How Employers Respond: Agenda Closed
12% of the companies surveyed are limiting meeting time. -
Time-Wasting Employees: Copy That
A staffer printed an entire book off the Internet. -
Time-Wasting Employees: Personal Grooming
One worker shaved her legs in the women's restroom. -
Time-Wasting Employees: Body Slam
A group of co-workers staged a wrestling match in the office.
Employees are often overwhelmed by workplace distractions, which significantly reduce their productivity. Sometimes, the distractions are due to their own actions, but many times, they're not, according to a recent survey from CareerBuilder. Yes, the ubiquitous (and tempting) nature of tech gadgets and Web surfing are major culprits. In fact, findings show that one out of four workers admitted that they will spend at least one hour of a standard workday on personal calls, emails and texts. And one-fifth estimate that they spend one hour or more of their work time searching the Internet for non-work-related information and photos, etc. In addition to limiting such pursuits to lunchtime and other designated break times, you can follow these suggestions from CareerBuilder to make the best use of your time on the job: De-clutter your desk so you can find things quickly when you need them. Organize your brain by focusing on your daily to-do list and include estimated time requirements for individual tasks. Don't allocate large blocks of time to composing and revising emails when you can have a phone or in-person conversation much more efficiently. As an added bonus, we're including a couple of CareerBuilder's outrageous real-life examples of time-wasting employees. Nearly 2,200 hiring managers and HR professionals and more than 3,020 workers took part in the research.