How much time do you waste when you're at work?
Are you doing it now by reading this blog?
Or are you just giving your mind a quick break ?
US jobs website salary.com surveyed more than 1000 workers to find out what people do at work when they're not actually working.
Unsurprisingly, more than two thirds of workers say they waste time every day.
The other 31 per cent either know a productivity secret we don't, or are lying.
Thirty-four per cent said they wasted 30 minutes or less each day, 24 per cent said they wasted between 30 minutes and an hour, and 11 per cent said they wasted time for several hours.
Twenty-one per cent said they only slacked off one or two times per week, and 10 per cent said they never wasted any time at all.
But what are workers doing when they're procrastinating?
Most people (37 per cent) said their most frequent time-wasting websites were news sites.
Twenty per cent said they never visited non-work related websites in the office, 14 per cent said they most often checked social media sites, and 12 per cent said online shopping sites were their biggest weakness.
Almost one-third of respondents said their boss addressed the issue by blocking access to some personal sites at work.
But more than half (52 per cent) obviously aren't fazed, and are happy to get around any bans by using their smartphone or tablet.
The more educated you are the more likely you are to waste time, with 76 per cent of people with doctorate degrees admitting to time-wasting every day, compared with 59 per cent of people with a high school diploma or less.
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Divorced people are also likely to be more diligent employees, with just 51 per cent wasting time daily compared with 75 per cent of singles and 75 per cent of people in relationships.
If you really want to get some work done, Tuesday between 9am and 11am is your best bet.
The least productive time is between 3pm and 5pm on a Friday.
Most wasteful day:
- Friday: 43 per cent
- Monday: 16 per cent
- Wednesday: 9 per cent
- Thursday: 6 per cent
- Tuesday: 3 per cent
Most wasteful time:
- 3pm-5pm: 27 per cent
- 1pm-3pm: 16 per cent
- 7am-9am: 15 per cent
- 11am-1pm: 13 per cent
- 9am-11am: 10 per cent
And what's the biggest distraction in the workplace?
- Too many meetings: 19 per cent
- Inefficient team members: 17 per cent
- Coworkers: 17 per cent
- Office politics: 13 per cent
- Busy work: 13 per cent
- Other: 11 per cent
- My boss: 8 per cent
But is all this wasted time really time that is wasted?
Not according to 60 per cent of workers, who say spending time on non-work-related tasks during office hours actually improves their focus and productivity in the long run.
If you've got time to kill:
YOU HAD ONE JOB (which obviously you're not doing right now): hadonejob.com
The ultimate destination for stuff to click on: buzzfeed.com
If you get really stuck: pointlesssites.com
And, obviously: iwastesomuchtime.com
Source: news.com.au
