Amayzine

You really waste so much time during a regular workday

When you are working, you are really working. At least, that's what you think. You are actually doing nothing for a lot of moments.

Just chatting at your desk with your colleague, quickly grabbing a coffee, also getting a tea, quickly texting your mom, then taking a little walk through the building and then wandering from meeting to meeting. On average, we get distracted for about a workday around three hours and are therefore only really productive for five hours out of the eight that a workday counts. Because all those little things you do between regular work absolutely distract you in the big picture. You still listen in a bit when your colleagues are chatting next to you, so to speak. Even if you don’t want to. Once you’ve been pulled out of your concentration, it takes you an average of 23 minutes to regain your focus completely.

Not so strange then, that more and more people want to work from home one day a week. On average, we work 6.2 hours a week from home and you are generally interrupted and disturbed a lot less. Plus: you can’t be at meetings and you can’t hear the stories of your colleagues which can be a bit boring, but it is much more effective when there are really a number of things that need to be crossed off that to-do list. Because research also shows that those who are often distracted tend to be more stress experienced at work. And we all know by now that more stress is not really good for the atmosphere or for the quality of your work.

These are the biggest time wasters at work:

  • Checking social media
  • Online shopping
  • Chatting with colleagues and gossiping
  • Getting coffee, tea, or something nice
  • Daydreaming

What you should do according to experts when you’re sitting at your desk? Fully focus on one clear task ensures that you get it done faster. Work point by point throughout your day and only do what is really necessary at that moment, on that specific day. Don’t start on something ‘half’, something that might not really be necessary later. And also skip all that Facebook nonsense and all that Instagram whining for a bit. Because you can also do your work without those vacation photos from your friends, right?

FACTS

  • Due to all that distraction and all those pointless hours hanging around the office, people in Sweden work an average of only 6 hours a day
  • At least 1/5 of women between 25 and 35 years old suffer from fatigue caused by work
  • In the Netherlands, 4.71% of people are unemployed