Productivity Wasters in the Workplace

There’s only so much time in the day, and it never seems to be enough. Most business owners are always on the look for ways to increase their employees’ productivity while maintaining high levels of quality. But just because your employees are at work doesn’t mean you’re getting work done. What you really need to do is to cut down on the top time wasters in the office. This doesn’t mean that you should block personal e-mail and social media websites. We’re talking about the kind of distractions that can derail productivity and stop your employees from doing their jobs. My Career Success is here to highlight the top productivity wasters that might be standing in the way of real work.

Multitasking

Most employees are always on the look for ways to achieve multiple goals simultaneously. In fact, many non-multitasks perceive themselves as poor performers. While it might seem easy to do two routine tasks at the same time, doing two tasks that are both complex, will push your brain to work harder and can have an effect on your productivity. Multitasking will slow you down as you will become more susceptible to making mistakes, especially if one or more of your activities involve a lot of critical thinking. Avoid overloading your brain with too many mental notes as you will only drain your mental energy. Putting whatever’s on your mind on paper or on a digital notepad will also help you limit distractions and improve your concentration.

Not Taking Breaks

Research shows that working non-stop for long hours can take a great toll on your performance. So if you feel that your productivity is decreasing, it might actually mean that you need to take more breaks to recharge your energy. While most people consider checking their social media feeds a break, they’re not going to be nearly as refreshed as they would be if they took a real break outside the office. You need to get up and move around to get the blood flowing and clear your mind. In fact, many companies allocate a quiet space for their employees to relax and clear their minds.

Overdoing Meetings

How many times have you sat through a meeting and said to yourself, “what a waste of time!” If your answer is yes, you are not alone. Meetings can take up a large portion of a busy day. Don’t hold a meeting if you can accomplish the same thing via a phone conference or a group e-mail. The ability to organize and run effective meetings is essential to the company’s overall productivity and can have a positive impact on the company culture. Since meetings cannot be avoided, companies need to ensure that people can work without constant interruptions. As a rule of thumb: don’t schedule a meeting for something that you can solve in a phone call, and don’t make a phone call for something that can be communicated in an e-mail.

Social Media

Social media is one of the top time wasters of today’s workplace. Yet, employees can’t drag themselves away from scrolling through their news feed. There’s nothing wrong with taking a 10-minute break to clear your mind and keep up with personal obligations, but why not consider doing it while you’re having a coffee, then log out and get back to work. If you work in social media, schedule time in your day for proper work-related social media tasks, such as updating your business pages, responding to questions, and checking up on your competitors. The key here is to actually schedule time for this and not get carried away.