Brian Tracy identifies seven small habits that waste work time: gossip, socializing, noise, social media, constant email checking, unfocused meetings, and frequent snacking. He offers quick fixes for each, from batching email to using noise-cancelling headphones. The average worker loses three hours daily to these distractions.
Questions this video answers
About three hours per workday.
About $759 billion a year.
About 4% of workers.
64%.
50%.
Chapters
To get more done, start a little earlier, work a little harder, and stay a little later. Hello, I'm Brian Tracy and today I want to talk to you about productivity in the workplace. Do you ever feel like you don't have enough time to get things done at work? But how much are you really getting done? According to recent research, the answer is not that much. With productivity down, American businesses are looking for the reasons why. What they have found is astounding. Today's worker or employee is wasting more time than ever before and that is cutting deeply into employers profits. When surveyed, the average worker admitted to wasting about three hours of their workday on non work related tasks. That's three times as much time as employers had suspected, costing businesses about $759 billion a year in wasted salaries. But it gets worse. According to a report released by salary.com this year, about 4% of workers admit to wasting as much as half of their workday doing things that have nothing to do with their jobs. So what are people doing during work hours? According to statistics, 64% of workers use the Internet for personal use during the workday and 50% make personal phone calls or send texts during office hours. As many as 60% of workers admit to making online purchases when when they're supposed to be working, and many more play video games. But personal use of time aren't the only workday wasters impacting businesses. Some in office time wasters that employees report are things like gossip, social interaction with other co workers, snacks and breaks, meetings and noise and distractions. None of us have to waste much time to have a real impact on a company's profits. It makes sense that wasting hours each day is going to cost your employer big bucks. But what about those small time wasters we rarely think about? One report estimates that if every employee in the United States wastes a mere 36 seconds per day, the cost is over 120 million seconds each year. Now multiply those few seconds by the minutes and hours most of us waste in a single day and you can see how much productivity is being lost in America's workforce. No matter how conscientious you are, we all need to look at the tasks that strip us of the time necessary to get real work done. Here are a few of the most common culprits, along with some simple solutions. The first time waster is office gossip. It can be difficult to fall into this trap, but statistics show that gossiping eats away as much as an hour a day in some offices. The easiest solution is to walk away when the gossip starts. The second time waster is socialization. It's important to limit friendly batter to breaks and lunchtime rather than having it go on all day long. The third time waster is noisy co workers. If a noisy co worker keeps you from being productive, wear noise canceling earphones or ask to have your cubicle moved to another part of the office. The fourth is social media and the Internet. Unless you need to get the job done, stay off the Internet altogether while at work. The fifth is checking email too frequently. Sifting through dozens of emails every day can be a real time waster. Instead of reading and responding to every message when it comes in, set aside a time each day to handle non emergency correspondence. Here's another only read the most important messages, skip over the rest. The sixth time waster is unnecessary meetings. If meetings are eating away at your productivity, do your best to eliminate unnecessary ones. If you really aren't required to be present, skip it. And when you are required to be in the room, do your best not to sidetrack the discussion. Keeping everyone on track can save hours of table time every week. Finally, snacks and breaks tend to waste time. Everyone needs a break from time to time, but do your best to limit them to only a few minutes once or twice each day. It may seem impossible to cut through your to do list in a mere eight hour workday, but if you are diligent to eliminate these common time wasters, you may discover that your day goes more much smoother and you get a lot more accomplished. If you enjoyed this video and feel that it was valuable in teaching you about productivity in the workplace, share it with your friends or anyone else who might benefit from this information. Before we wrap up, I'd like to leave you with a thought to share with your friends and followers. To get more done, start a little earlier, work a little harder, and stay a little later. Thanks for watching. And remember, if you want to change your future, take action and take action now. If you enjoy this video and feel it was valuable in teaching you about productivity in the workplace, subscribe to My channel like this video and share this video with your friends and click the button on this screen for a free gift. Thanks again for watching.
