We’re all carrying digital debt:
the inflow of data, emails, meetings, and notifications has outpaced humans’ ability to process it all. And the pace of work is only intensifying. Everything feels important, so we spend our workdays trying to get out of the red. Nearly 2 in 3 people (64%) say they struggle with having the time and energy to do their job—and those people are 3.5x more likely to also struggle with innovation and strategic thinking. And nearly 2 in 3 leaders (60%) are already feeling the effects, saying that a lack of innovation or breakthrough ideas on their teams is a concern. There are only so many minutes in the day—and every minute we spend managing this digital debt is a minute not spent on the creative work that leads to innovation. In a world where creativity is the new productivity, digital debt is more than an inconvenience—it’s impacting business.
The Weight of the Workday
With the balance of work hours spent communicating, 68% of people say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday.
Illustration by Manuel Bortoletti
68% of people say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday.
Hours worked, workday span, and time spent in meetings have steadily
increased
over the past few years—it’s easier than ever to communicate and harder than ever to keep up. Taking a closer look at how people spend their time, it’s clear that a lack of focus time, the search for information, and the volume of constant communications have an opportunity cost. Sixty-eight percent of people say they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday. And 62% of survey respondents say they struggle with too much time spent searching for information in their workday. Across the Microsoft 365 apps, the average employee spends 57% of their time communicating (in meetings, email, and chat) and 43% creating (in documents, spreadsheets, and presentations).
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The heaviest email users (top 25%) spend 8.8 hours a week on email, and the heaviest meeting users (top 25%) spend 7.5 hours a week in meetings.
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And this global average includes frontline workers— for knowledge workers, who rely even more on digital communication, the share of the week taken up by emails and meetings is even greater. AI can tip the balance in people’s favor to reclaim time and energy for the important work that fuels innovation.
Top 5 Obstacles to Productivity
The data reveals an urgent need to make meetings more effective—people report ‘inefficient meetings’ as their number one productivity disruptor.
Survey question: In your current day-to-day role, please rank the following based on how disruptive they are to your productivity.
Illustration by Manuel Bortoletti
Take meetings, for example. People report that the number one productivity disruptor is inefficient meetings, followed closely by having too many meetings at number three. Most people say it’s difficult to brainstorm in a virtual meeting (58%) or catch up if they joined a meeting late (57%), that next steps at the end of a meeting are unclear (55%), and that it’s hard to summarize what happens (56%). And since February 2020, people are in 3x more Teams meetings and calls per week (192%).
The data shows a clear need to make meetings better. Today, only 1 in 3 people (35%) think they would be missed in the majority of their meetings. But meeting FOMO is real. Asked what makes meetings worthwhile, people’s top motivation was, “I will receive information that will help me do my job better”—ahead of giving feedback, making decisions, or advancing their career. With AI, every meeting becomes a digital artifact. When meetings are more than a point in time, you can engage and interact with them when and how it works best for you, whether synchronously or asynchronously.
Take action:
-
Identify and address your organization’s
productivity disruptors
with insights from employee listening. -
Radically
rethink the workday
. As AI frees up time and energy, protect
focus time
for the creative work that leads to innovation. -
Think of meetings as a
digital artifact
and not just a point in time. Encourage people to leverage AI-powered intelligent meeting recaps, transcripts, and recordings to engage with meetings how and when it works best for them.
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