An astounding report found that knowledge workers (those in front of a computer) only are productive just under 3 hours a day!
Mind-numbing results. Remember, it is not saying we aren’t at work more than 3 hours a day, just that we are only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes a day!
Remember, it is not saying we aren’t at work more than 3 hours a day, just that we are only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes a day!
This study, of over 2,000 office workers in the United Kingdom revealed this startling fact.
Before the snorting and stomping begins, this does not mean employees are in an office for the full 8 hours per day. It is a measurement of how much they get done.
While the number is shocking, it is actually true. If you take time for meetings away from productivity, hallway conversations, a boss stopping by, coffee, bathroom, checking personal email, checking social media, smoking, personal phone calls, hitting the vending machine, on hold waiting for IT support for a problem with your laptop, trying to find a document in the company online storage, etc., no wonder we have so little productivity!
If you take time for meetings away from productivity, hallway conversations, a boss stopping by, coffee, bathroom, checking personal email, checking social media, smoking, personal phone calls, hitting the vending machine, on hold waiting for IT support for a problem with your laptop, trying to find a document in the company online storage, etc., no wonder we have so little productivity!
Some companies try to solve it by requiring the employee to work incredibly long hours so they can get more work out of the worker.
That, however, is a zero sum game as the longer hours mean slower productivity means even less productivity as the exhausted employee cannot even form a thought!
While we cannot go to a 3 hour work day, I think we should examine the 6 hour day for knowledge workers. The idea of mental sharpness for 8 hours is a joke. Many dumb decisions are made during exhaustion with the employee wondering what they were thinking when they made a stupid decision!
Rather than worry how much time a person spends sitting in an office chair, managers should worry about how much actual work is getting done.