A recent study of 1,000 American workers (and you can bet your life it’s not much different in the UK) by Zippia.com a career resource website found that in a typical 8 hour working day the average worker only spends 4 hours and 12 minutes actually doing work. That’s why you’re not short of time, just short on focus.
Let’s see if the results of the survey ring any bells with you.
It was observed that 71% of time spent in meetings was unproductive.
As well as meetings the office environment was found to be a great source of distraction with 27% saying they waste time by socialising or general chit chat with co-workers and another 25% say noise and other office based distractions break their focus. An interesting fact for those dinosaurs that believe the only place productive work can be carried out is the office!!!
Admittedly remote workers were also found to take breaks in the form of household chores and / or other household distractions like the tv but in each of these cases it was only 14% as against 27% and 25% above.
The problem is very simple. Most organisations and most poor managers concentrate not on effectiveness but on activity and most of all productivity. Studies, including those published in publications such as Science Daily clearly show that brief diversions done in an effective way can dramatically improve your ability to focus on a task for prolonged periods. Focus at the right time and take effective breaks and you will release time to be effective. You might also try using the The Simplest Time Management System Ever
In order to release time and be more effective and focused then cut out the surplus meetings, don’t treat the office / workplace as a social club and avoid open plan offices if you can. That way you will prove, you are not short of time, just short of focus. Generally, it’s easier to focus out of the office environment than in it but some people have to be on site production workers, carers etc. If you have to be on site life is more difficult as you must lead others as well as yourself to ensure you stay focused. Difficult but not impossible.
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