We all do it. We check Facebook while we should be filing. We look at cute animal videos when we should be making calls. Everyone wastes a little time sometime at work. When zoning out becomes a hobby, that's when the distractions become a distraction.
Salary.com recently released a study called "Wasting Time at Work" which included information from 750 people.
Results from the survey are as follows:
- 31 percent waste roughly 30 minutes daily
- 31 percent waste roughly 1 hour daily
- 16 percent waste roughly 2 hours daily
- 6 percent waste roughly 3 hours daily
- 2 percent waste roughly 4 hours daily
- 2 percent waste 5 or more hours daily"
The survey concluded that 4 percent of people in the survey waste at least half of their workday not doing work. These statistics are across the board regardless of job title or gender.
"Although time wasting is common in all professions, 100 percent of those working in finance and banking admitted to wasting time at work each day," according to Business Cheat Sheet.
"Last year, government workers admitted to wasting the most time."
This year, only 90 percent of government workers admitted to wasting time in 2014. Only 90 percent! Does that mean progress?
Twenty percent more respondents in the 2014 survey admitted to time wasting than those who came clean in 2013. Last year, Facebook was the biggest slacking tool, but this year, Google won as the number one time waster, with Facebook coming in second and LinkedIn coming in third, according to the survey.
"Men waste slightly more time than women at work (91% to 87%), although more women (27%) prefer using Facebook to men (17%)," according to the survey. "When it comes to marital status, 91% of single people waste time compared to 88% of married folks, and 85% of those who are divorced."
People between the ages of 26 and 39 are the biggest time wasters, according to the survey, so you can't blame the young whippersnappers for zapping hours out of the work day.
Here's the breakdown on age:
- 91% of people 18-25 waste time daily
- 95% of people 26-32 waste time daily
- 92% of people 33-39 waste time daily
- 90% of people 40-50 waste time daily
- 85% of people 51-60 waste time daily
- 78% of people 60+ waste time daily
Other time-eaters can be real-world distractions too, like phone calls, water cooler talk, dealing with an annoying co-worker or having too many meetings.
Why do people waste time? Do they hate their jobs? "More than half (53 percent) of all those surveyed say they waste time because they believe short breaks actually increase productivity," according to survey results. "Boredom came in a distant second as 20 percent of people said they simply aren't interested enough in their jobs to pay full attention. Lack of incentive (8 percent), being unsatisfied with their jobs (7 percent), and not being paid enough (2 percent) also made the list."
How do bosses stop this drain of productive time? Some block non-work related internet sites, but 56 percent of employees surveyed said they just use their own portable devices to get online.
How about planned wasted time? Thirteen percent of those surveyed said they fully intend on wasting time once March Madness hits.
How big of a problem time wasting is depends on the company, their policies (don't get too Draconian! 14 percent of respondents said they would reject a job offer if a company blocked the World Wide Web) and employee satisfaction.
