Workplace distractions cost UK businesses £250m

TLDR: A survey by Samsung says that workplace distractions cause most workers to lose 70 days’ worth of productivity every year.

UK businesses are losing £250m every year as a result of distracted employees, heavy email traffic and office gossips, researchers claim.

According to a new survey conducted by The University of Leeds and Samsung Electronics UK, most workers are unproductive for 70 days of the year — with respondents admitting they only feel like they’ve actually achieved something on an average of 3.6 days a week.

Almost a quarter of those surveyed claimed they interrupt their workflow every 22 minutes to check their emails, and over a third of workers admitted they check at least every 15 minutes.

According to the research, the top seven office distractions are:

1. Loud talkers — 57%

2. The phone ringing — 39%

3. Unnecessary meetings — 26%

4. Constant stream of emails — 22%

5. Making tea rounds — 18%

6. Office gossips — 16%

7. People typing loudly — 12%

When it comes to working from home, 22% of people who spend some of their time working in a company office find working from the comfort of their sofa makes them more productive.

Nearly a third of people who regularly work from home have a dedicated workspace, and 21% even get ‘dressed’ for a day at work. Despite this, 86% still confess they get side-tracked when working at home, with the main distractions noted as people they live with, housework, the TV and pets.

The research was conducted in order to explore how a more visually immersive experience can improve productivity, which has been developed by Samsung in partnership with Stephen Westland, Professor of Colour Science, University of Leeds.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Rachel Craig is part of the media team at Formations Factory and is responsible for developing and maintaining the online presence of the company. Formations Factory is a company formation service provider in the UK.