Employees Report Spending Time at Work Not Working
Many people think checking in on social media and surfing the web are the major distractions in today’s modern workplace, but it turns out traditional activities, like taking breaks to the office water cooler or break room and participating in small talk, still reign supreme as the most time-consuming workplace distractions.
According to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees conducted by BambooHR, today’s employees spend less time “on the clock” involved with digital distractions than with traditional distractions. And contrary to conventional wisdom, frontline employees aren’t the ones spending the most time wrapped up in these common distractions—across the board, senior leadership indulges more.
Twenty percent of employees think workplace distractions consistently hinder their workplace performance and efficiency, while 18% feel they enhance it.
Non-work related activities done by employees while “on the clock” at work in order of most time spent include:
- Taking breaks to the office kitchen/water cooler/break room (other than for lunch);
- Taking trips to the bathroom;
- Participating in small talk/gossip with coworkers;
- Corresponding (phone, email, text, social media) with family members;
- Surfing the web/online personal errands (e.g., paying bills online, online shopping, etc.);
- Corresponding (phone, email, text, social media) with nonwork-related friends;
- Using social media for non-work-related reasons; and
- Watching TV (including mobile and computer).
Among those who say distractions enhance performance, the top five activities they feel enhance performance the most are:
- Taking breaks away from their desks throughout the day (in the break room, at the water cooler);
- Taking a dedicated lunch break away from their desks;
- Corresponding with family members by phone, email, text, mobile chat, or other electronic means;
- Participating in small talk/gossip with coworkers; and
- Listening to music.
Among those who say distractions hinder performance, the top five activities they feel hinder performance the most are:
- Using social media for non work-related purposes;
- Corresponding with family members by phone, email, text, mobile chat, or other electronic means;
- Taking breaks away from their desks throughout the day (in the break room, at the water cooler);
- Corresponding with non-work-related friends by phone, email, text, mobile chat, or other electronic means; and
- Surfing the web/online personal errands (like paying bills or shopping online).
Nearly half (47%) of employees feel they spend fewer than 30 minutes per week being unproductive because of unnecessary distractions. More than half (56%) of employees say they try to make up for time spent on personal, non-work-related activities while at work by working at home or in the office after standard work hours—39% of those spend more than 30 minutes per day making up for it.
Only 53% of employees take lunch each day, and one in four take lunch two days a week or fewer. The leading reason for not taking lunch is too much work to do (36%). One in five of those who don’t regularly take lunch say that when they don’t take lunches, it’s because they’ve traded them for other breaks they’ve taken during the day.