Top time management statistics
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- 82% of people don’t have a time management system in place.
- The average worker spends 51% of their workday on tasks of little to no value.
- On average, employees are interrupted about 60 times a day.
- The average employee is productive for just 2 hours and 53 minutes each day.
- Employee distractions cost businesses $588 billion each year.
- Workers spend 6 hours per week managing meeting-related activities.
- People spend 2 hours 23 minutes on social media every day, while people spend 6 hours 40 minutes online.
- 75% of students procrastinate.
- Effective employee time tracking can reduce productivity leaks by 80% and boost revenue by 61%.
Before we dive in, who are we?
We’re Demir and Carey Bentley, founders of Lifehack Method and authors of the WSJ bestseller Winning the Week. After burning out in high-pressure careers, we reinvented our lives and created a system that’s helped 50,000+ professionals at companies like Google, Uber, and PepsiCo work less and achieve more. Learn more here.
Time management statistics in the workplace
82% of people don’t have a time management system in place.
(Acuity Training) A recent study found that less than 1 in 5 had a dedicated time management system. How do people handle time management instead?- 33% write to-do lists ✍️
- 24% use their inbox 📩
- 12% schedule everything in their calendar 📅
The average worker spends 51% of their workday on tasks of little to no value.
(Inc.) That’s over 20 hours a week dedicated to things that just don’t matter. The most significant time sucks? Unnecessary commuting (13%), meetings (16%), and emails (23%).On average, employees are interrupted about 60 times a day.
(Harvard Business Review, University of California, Irvine) Even a short interruption can lead to: Moreover, recovering from a distraction takes an average of 25 minutes. ⏲️ Check out this guide for new ways to end interruptions and nip distractions in the bud.Only about 20% of the average working day is spent on activities that matter.
(Visually, Asana, McKinsey, National Library of Medicine, Music Magpie, Economist Impact) To put it in perspective, that’s less than two hours! And to make it even worse, a study by Asana found that employees only spend 27% of their time doing skill-based work. You know, the kind of work they hired you to do in the first place! What do employees do for the rest of the day? In the typical workday, we spend:- 28% of our time managing our inbox
- 10% of our time scrolling social media (which equates to about 45 minutes)
- Over two hours procrastinating
- 40 minutes messaging our colleagues
- 60% of our time on coordination
Business owners spend about 7 hours each week on low-value activities that could be outsourced or delegated.
(Inc., Gallup) Instead of things that could grow their business, business owners spend an average of 6.8 hours each week on things like:- Mindless scrolling on social media (3.9 hours per week)
- Emails (3.4 hours per week)
- Interruptions (3.2 hours per week)
- Low-value requests (1.8 hours per week)
- Unexpected, preventable work (1.8 hours per week)
- Non-productive meetings (1 hour per week)
Unrecorded work tasks cost the US economy 50 million productive hours EACH day.
(Data Bridge Market Research, Clockify, Select Software Reviews) That includes seemingly small, quick things like emails (67% of which are left untracked), meetings (37%), and finding documents (49%).
Altogether, that’s the equivalent of $7.4 billion every day.
This is why we always say that tracking your time is so essential – time is literally money, both in your personal and professional lives.
But we’ll talk about that in a later section.
Employee distractions cost businesses $588 billion each year.
(Reuters, Deloitte, WifiTalents, Economist Impact) When they’re working in the office, employees are interrupted nearly a dozen times each hour. But it’s not just by their colleagues. Chances are, you’re interrupting yourself! Consider this:- People check their phones 30 times during work hours (hello, digital addiction!)
- Nearly 1 in 4 admit to checking social media more than 10 times per day at work
- The average employee loses over 150 hours of productivity due to personal activities each year
- Others in the home (39%)
- Social media or other content (31%)
- Feelings of disconnection from coworkers (23%)
- Household chores (16%)
39% of employees say their workload is the most significant cause of their workplace stress – and 55% say their workload has increased.
(Zippia, HR Magazine, Michael Page, Fortune, Forbes, mmhmm) One study found that 40% of employees have added an average of five tasks to their regular work duties. Unsurprisingly, this has serious side effects – more than 80% of employees are at risk of burning out this year.
And even though businesses are looking for ways to help them better manage their workload, their efforts aren’t cutting it.
In a survey of nearly 2,000 US employees, 96% said that tools actually make it harder to keep up because of things like:
- App switching (26%)
- Trouble accessing helpful data (25%)
- Prioritization (21%)
56% of employees say they don’t have things under control every day.
(Timewatch) Speaking of an overwhelming workload… Only 44% of employees say they have things under control at work five days a week. 🫠- 23% have it under control four days a week
- 23% have it under control three days a week
- 10% have things under control one to two days a week
But here’s the thing.
If you constantly feel like your workday or to-do list is spiraling out of control, take a step back and think about how you're spending your time.
Adopting a task manager can change EVERYTHING.
Think of it as a 21st-century to-do list that not only keeps all of your tasks in one place but also organizes, manages, and executes them.
I’ll walk you through six of our favorites in this guide.
32% of employees waste up to two hours each day on tasks that don’t matter.
(Timewatch, Hubstaff) There’s always some level of time-wasting at work. It’s natural, right? Most employees (38%) waste an hour or less. But some people (17%) waste as many as two to three hours daily – that adds up to as many as 15 hours each week! So why are we wasting so much of our precious time? It often comes from sheer boredom – 20% waste time at work because they're bored or uninterested.On average, employees are productive for just 2 hours and 53 minutes each day.
(Zoomshift, European Research Journal) What’s eating employee productivity? Most often, things like:- Multitasking, which costs employees 6 hours of productivity per week.
- Moving data from one place to another for 10 hours a week.
- Reprioritizing to finish tasks they haven’t gotten done, which can take nearly 5 hours per week.
Meeting time management statistics
Professionals spend over 10 hours per week on meetings.
(Harvard Business Review, Avoma, MIT, Udemy) The worst part? A lot of those hours are spent thinking about meetings! To get specific, employees spend an average of:- 6 hours per week managing meeting-related activities like scheduling
- 5 hours per week in meetings
- 4 hours per week preparing for meetings
Because of this, 37% of employees say unproductive meetings are the highest cost to their company.
What makes them so unproductive?
Multitasking!
Over half of employees are doing things like checking emails and texting during a meeting (55%).
Most often, they’re:
- Checking email
- Texting
- Multitasking
- Snacking
- Scrolling social media
45% of employees are overwhelmed by the number of meetings they're asked to attend.
(Zippia, Cornerstone Dynamics)
On average, employees have at least eight meetings each week. And that number will just keep growing – time spent in meetings has increased by roughly 10% each year since 2000! 📈 But that number varies based on job type and seniority. Let’s take a look at how much of your time meetings can take up:- Average employee: 6%
- Middle management: 35%
- Upper management: 50%
- CEO: 72%
Email time management statistics
The average office worker checks their email 15 times per day and spends over two hours reading and replying to messages.
(Forbes, Timeular, Timewatch) On average, we receive over 200 emails and write about 40 each day. 📩 And while it’s great for our dopamine, it’s terrible for our productivity. Why? Because of the 2.5 hours we spend managing our inboxes, 1.8 hours of that communication is entirely irrelevant. The key to escaping the grind? Turn your email notifications OFF! 🛑 I know – it’s hard to do, especially for the 84% of employees who keep their email running in the background or the 31% who open their email the second they get a notification.57% of the average employee’s time is spent communicating.
(Microsoft) That’s more than four and a half hours each workday talking to others over email, in meetings, or on a chat app. Feels impossible, right? Let’s look at how the numbers add up:- Email: 1 hour and 12 minutes 📨
- Chat: 1 hour and 31 minutes 💬
- Meetings: 1 hour and 50 minutes 🤝
Time management and stress statistics
Only 1 in 5 employees feel they effectively manage their daily stress and workload.
(Timeular, Perkbox, Mental Health Foundation and YouGov, Mind, Wellable Labs) Typically, stress is part of the job – 79% of people say they’re often stressed, after all! But only 1 in 5 feel they can effectively manage it. 😓 Research has found that others manage it by doing things like:- Overeating or eating unhealthily (46%)
- Calling in sick (19%)
- Smoking (16%)
Nearly 8 in 10 employees say their stress is caused by a high or increased workload.
(Reclaim, Mental Health UK) Overwhelming or unmanageable workloads are one of the leading causes of burnout. Over half of employees who had experienced burnout in the last year said it was brought on by their workload and its side effects. That includes working overtime (45%) and feeling isolated (42%). 📚Read more: Combating Overwhelm in 3 Simple Steps We’ve talked a lot about time management statistics for professionals, but time management is important for people of all ages! Which is why we’ll tackle time management statistics for students next.
Personal time management statistics
People spend 6 hours 40 minutes surfing on the web every day
(Global Overview Report) People aged 16-64 spend 6 hours 40 minutes on the web across different devices. In other words, they spend 47 hours per week online – or 17 years of their life. In the US, that figure is 7 hours 3 minutes per day. Across generations and genders, these numbers are:|
Age |
Women |
Men |
|
16-24 |
7:32 |
7:07 |
|
25-34 |
7:03 |
7:13 |
|
35-44 |
6:25 |
6:40 |
|
45-54 |
6:09 |
6:05 |
| 55-64 | 5:17 |
5:14 |
People spend 2 hours 23 minutes on social media every day
(Global Overview Report) At the same time, they use 2 hours 23 minutes on social media. This year alone, humanity spends a combined total of 500 million years on social media.
Source: Global Overview Report
Source: Global Overview Report
Time management statistics for students
32% of college students say that a time management workshop would improve their educational experience. 🧑🎓
(Inside Higher Ed, Reliable Plant, Inside Higher Ed) For context, 47% of students weren’t taught organization or time management in high school. Because of it, almost half of college students say that finding a balance between course and social obligations hinders their academic success. So, what would help them improve their time management the most?- Learning to organize their syllabi and deadlines (42%)
- Help planning their schedules (33%)
- Social support from groups or residence halls (33%)
- Time management tips and workshops (32%)
- Help from a staff member (28%)
75% of college students procrastinate regularly, and 53% are considered severe procrastinators.
(Frontiers, The Knowledge Academy, Research in Higher Education Journal)
Studies have found that nearly half of students spend less than an hour each day on their coursework.
Even worse, 58% of students submit their task within 24 hours of the due date, despite having a week to complete it!
You might be thinking, “Okay, but that’s not the end of the world – we were all students at one point!”
But a lack of time management can have a lasting impact on grades and success.
Research shows that 76% of students who handed in assignments early earned higher scores, compared to only 60% of students who procrastinated.
Benefits time management statistics
90% of people say better time management will increase their productivity.
(Timewatch) Another 91% said it would lower their work-related stress and improve their:- Focus on tasks (86%)
- Ability to reach their goals (84%)
- Decision-making (83%)
- Confidence at work (82%)
- Reputation at work (76%)
- Workplace relationships (75%)
- Work-life balance (73%)
Employees can save as many as 40 hours per month if they can manage interruptions.
(Jobera, Berkeley) In this article, we've talked a lot about interruptions. But that’s because they wreak HAVOC on your productivity – they take 25 minutes to recover from! Not sure how to avoid interruptions? Here are my favorite tricks:- Close your door to physically keep interruptions at bay. 🚪
- Explain the impact of an interruption to your coworkers. 💭
- Schedule unscheduled time for unforeseen fires you have to put out. 🔥
Effective employee time tracking can reduce productivity leaks by 80% and boost revenue by 61%.
(eBillity, Timeular, Zippia, Hubstaff) Why? Because it helps you identify inefficiencies and improves productivity across the board. Companies also use it to understand how employees spend their time (79%) and improve engagement and performance (68%). Read more: The Best Time Management Training for Business Owners, Leaders & Professionals How to Be More Productive Working from Home Stop Saying “I Don’t Have Time!” Best Productivity Courses & Certifications Sources: Acuity Training Inc. Harvard Business Review University of California, Irvine Visually Asana McKinsey National Library of Medicine Music Magpie Economist Impact Inc. Gallup Data Bridge Market Research Clockify Select Software Reviews Reuters Deloitte WifiTalents Zippia HR Magazine Michael Page Fortune Forbes Mmhmm Timewatch Hubstaff Zoomshift European Research Journal Harvard Business Review Avoma MIT Udemy Zippia Cornerstone Dynamics Forbes Timeular Microsoft Perkbox Mental Health Foundation and YouGov Mind Wellable Labs Reclaim Mental Health UK Global Overview Report Inside Higher Ed Reliable Plant Inside Higher Ed Frontiers The Knowledge Academy Research in Higher Education Journal Jobera Berkeley eBillity Zippia HubstaffFree Masterclass
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