Research has shown the average British worker is distracted every 22 minutes, resulting in 70 working days a year being unproductive. All employers know - time is money, so it's important they recognise what's stopping their employees from being fully engaged. What are the biggest distractions in the office?
1. Loud talkers
Over half of workers find loud co-workers to be the biggest distraction. Most people who have worked in an office will have dealt with a noisy neighbour. Whether they are having one-sided telephone conversations or loudly eating a bag of crisps - workers find it hard not to let vocal colleagues hurt their productivity.
2. Ringing phones
When the phones are constantly ringing, workers repeatedly find themselves stopping what they are doing to answer a call. However the problem is that phone calls often disrupt the flow of work and bring up new urgent matters, making them highly distracting even for the most focused workers.
3. Unnecessary meetings
Time spent together is not always time spent getting work done. 26% of workers find having needless meetings to be highly disruptive to their work schedule.
4. Constant emails
With messages always coming through, over a fifth of workers find it hard not to get side-tracked by their emails. With most employees communicating with the colleagues via their mailbox, they often find themselves stopping whatever they are doing to quickly read an email. This often contributes to a lack of productivity.
5. Making the tea round
Many busy and stressed out workers claim they find putting the kettle on to be a real interruption. Some workers find themselves ferrying drinks from the kitchen for longer than they like, causing them to lose valuable time.
