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How much time do you waste online? We've all been there: we have our to-do list all written out and prioritized, a fresh cup of coffee, and maybe even our favorites station playing on Pandora. The recipe for a productive day. But before you get started you think, "Let me just check my favorite engineering forum" (hint hint…CR4) and an hour later (while filled with new knowledge) you realized you have done nothing on your list.
I spend the majority of my day online in some capacity, and I know that it takes real disciple to close my personal email and social media accounts and get down to business. OfficeTime, a time and expense tracker, examines the top 10 ways people kill time every day. This survey found that people were spending between 1 and 2 hours a day on non-productive activity.
The Top Ten Time Killers are:
1. Emails
2. Internet surfing
3. Watching TV
4. Procrastination
5. Meetings
6. Non-business related conversations
7. Travel time/commuting
8. Social networking
9. Cell phone/texting
10. Dealing with red tape
More stats on each of these time killers and how many people they affect can be seen by clicking the picture of the infographic.
The infographic goes on to show that three-fourths of workers attribute time-wasting to stress and boredom. This seems counterintuitive to me since delaying work stresses me out - but I'm a bit Type-A. According to Professor Joseph Ferrari at De Paul University, there are three different types of procrastinators. After taking the flow-chart quiz on the bottom of the inforgraphic, I'm identified as a Thrill Seeker or last-minute procrastinator who enjoys the feelings associated with working against a deadline. I guess it fits me better than the other two options, which include the Avoiders (or fear procrastinators) who procrastinate as a means to avoid being judge due to their success or failure, and the Indecisives (or decisional procrastinators) who are often perfectionists but stall to shift responsibility from themselves. Professor Ferrari offers tips for each of these types including moving deadlines and splitting the task up into manageable parts.
Image Credit: xfep.com
There is help! One of my favorite blogs (ahem…time wasters) is called Zen Habits. They designate every Monday as productivity and organization day, and one article was about staying productive with online work. Another resource provides apps or plug-ins that help students stay more productive online, but I think many of them can apply to business as well.
Other good resources:
How CEOs Stay So Productive
So how do you stay productive while you're working?
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