Time Wasters at Work

When it comes to wasting time at work, the first thing people think about is social media.  Facebook, Twitter, Google + are the items that are pointed to when it comes to the things that distract us during our day.  Reality is, however, that these types of things only account for 5% of all time that is wasted in a common work day.

So if social media isn’t to blame for wasting time, then what is?  In a recent survey, 14% of all people polled said their biggest time waster as they go throughout the day is simply chatting with co-workers.  The conversations around the water cooler take up a majority of people’s time.  Other items that are classified as time wasters include computer glitches (11%), meetings (11%) and internet surfing (9%).   At the very bottom of this list is social media. 

On the plus side, personal interaction seems to be alive and well in a time when social media is at the forefront of everyone’s radar when it comes to pre-employment and employment background checks.  On the negative, for employers, it’s a challenge to consider how much interaction is too much when attempting to create an environment where maximum productivity is achieved.  There is a delicate balance, but one that can easily be achieved.