Are you a time waster at work? I know you want to answer ‘Of course not!’ But the truth is we all waste time at work; we’re only human after all. The real question is how much time do you waste at work and how can you minimize your time wasting so you can be more productive and maybe even get ahead in life?
I love fun facts – so here some facts about time wasting that I squandered a lot of time looking up! Thanks Salary.com!
Those born between 1980 and 1985 waste almost 4 times as much time at work than those born between 1930 and 1949.
47% feel that office politics take away from their productivity.
89% of workers confess to wasting time at work – up a whopping 20% from last year! Here’s the breakdown:
31% waste roughly 30 minutes per day
31% waste roughly 1 hour per day
16% waste roughly2 hours per day
6% waste roughly3 hours per day
2% waste roughly4 hours per day
2% waste more than 5 hours per day – I honestly don’t know how these people are employed!
What are we wasting all this time on?
48% are using the internet – no surprise here!
33% are socializing with their co-workers.
30% are attending to personal business like kids – or their love life.
19% are making personal phone calls.
15% are taking prolonged breaks.
Excuses, excuses! When asked why employees decided to waste company time they came up with these lame excuses:
46% Lack of job satisfaction. (So quit complaining and do something about it already!)
34% Feel underpaid (…And you think slacking off is going to improve this situation?!?!)
24% Blame having no deadlines or incentives (What’s stopping you from making you own?)
19% Said work hours are too long. (And that’s different than everyone else…how?)
18% Said friends or relatives are distracting (Set some boundaries people!)
While it may be impossible to stop wasting time completely, here are some tips to help you make the most of your time at work:
Follow a routine – The most productive people schedule their day and follow a regular routine. So stop just winging it! Peak productivity happens by design…not dumb luck.
Mess creates stress – so clean out your space and become more industrious. No one ever lived a blessed life in a mess!
Stop trying to multi-task – Which research shows is impossible to do well anyway. More than that all the distractions of modern life is rewiring our brains and actually lowering our IQ’s by 5%. Yikes!
Do things right the first time – all those distractions add up to more mistakes. Set yourself apart and practice being one of those ‘miracle workers’ who can focus on a project until it is done and done right.
Drink more water – 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated which leads to lower energy levels and that means you’ll get less done.
Get lost! – You don’t have to be available 24/7. It’s OK to turn off your devices and take time to be creative and think. No interruptions = pure focus. Beautiful!