Productivity is word you see all the time. From articles like 5 ways to increase productivity, simple tips to decrease unproductive habits, and so forth. Just Google it, there are thousands of articles out there regarding productivity.

The workplace, however, is filled with distraction after distraction. From emails, ringing phones, pen clicking, conversations, printers, the list goes on. With that being said let's take a look at some of employee’s biggest time wasters below.

1. Social Media

With so many social sites available it’s hard not to want to check them all throughout the day, otherwise you’ve got a lot of catching up to do after work! The only problem with this is that you won’t ever “catch up” because social media is an endless cycle of content. You never get to the end because there is no end. You can keep scrolling and refreshing as often as you would like and something new will always pop up.

The good news is you can prevent yourself from wasting so much time on these sites. There are apps and plug-ins available to block websites you choose or you can choose to limit the amount of time you are on those sites.

2. Smartphones

Smartphones are a double-edged sword for productivity. They are great for mobility and flexibility enabling us to be connected from almost anywhere in the world. However, we can’t seem to go to long without picking up our phone. In 2019, the average person picked up their phone 58 times a day with 30 of them happening during normal work hours (2019 Screen Time Stats Report) Over half of the pick-ups last around 2 minutes, which might not seem like a lot, but 30 times a day adds up to a whole hour of lost work time. Not to mention, the time it takes you to switch back into work mode after picking up your phone.

A good solution to reducing phone time is to simply take the device off your desk and put it away. Not being able to hear or see your notifications pop-up will make you less likely to grab your phone from a desk drawer or purse. Out of sight out of mind!

3. Multitasking

You may think multitasking saves you time; you’re working on multiple things at once, that should you save time. However, it’s the exact opposite. 98% of the population does not display successful multitasking abilities (Success Trek). If we all were great multitaskers then texting and driving wouldn’t be an issue, unfortunately, that’s not the case.

To remedy this problem you can try creating a schedule for yourself and allowing X amount of time on one specific task before working on another task. This promotes ‘single-tasking’ and allows you to stay focused on one task instead of hopping between two or three at a time.

4. Noise & Chatter

This can be tricky when you share an office or work in an open office. Even if no one is talking, the other sounds you hear like keyboard typing, coffee mugs clinking, legs tapping, and whatever else people do throughout the day that creates noise can be really distracting.

There’s not a whole lot you can do to control the noise going on around you, but you can control what you hear. By this I mean, noise-canceling headphones. If you can’t turn down the noise around you, you're better off drowning them out.

5. Office or Desk Clutter

Having a messy workspace can pose quite the challenge on how much work you are getting done. Princeton University concluded that physical clutter in your surroundings competes for your attention. Aside from physical clutter, digital clutter poses a threat to your productivity levels too. Disorganized files all over your computer can eat up a lot of time when you are looking all over the place for one thing.

To lessen the competition for your attention, try to make a habit of cleaning your workspace daily or weekly. Same with your digital clutter. Implementing an organizational strategy with folders can help with this. Just don’t get carried away with having too many folders.

6. Lack of Motivation

This one is probably a no-brainer. A lack of motivation makes it hard to start a project whether you’re uninterested or don’t know where to begin. This will only wast more time and put you back even further.

Instead, you can try pushing yourself through the first or most simple part of the project. Often times, just starting will spark a little creativity and get the juices flowing or get you in the work-flow mood. Don’t worry about how good it is, you can come back to it later and touch it up when you are feeling more motivated.

7. Excessive Meetings

Meetings can be very helpful and necessary to stay on track when they are productive. However, a study from Atlassian found that employees spent roughly 31 hours in unproductive meetings each month. That’s about 7.5 hours a week…or a whole workday a week! Yikes!

Unfortunately, there may not be much you can do to reduce the number of meetings you have to go to if you are not in management. If you feel your meetings are unnecessary and can be handled through email or messages then try bringing it up to your manager.


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