Welcome back.
Were you thinking about that new Netflix series your sister told you about? Or maybe what to make for dinner?
A new survey found that almost all employees let their minds wander away from the task at hand for more than an hour every day, and that’s in addition to their lunch and other scheduled breaks.
But that doesn’t mean they’re unmotivated, the study by RingCentral Glip found.
And, it's not just lower-level employees checking out, researchers found. About 22 percent of C-suite members and 34 percent of directors and managers also zone out for more than an hour a day.
Millennials and members of the Gen Z demographic are twice as likely to disengage as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, the study found, although they consider themselves no less motivated.
Respondents in the younger demographics, ages 18 to 34, said they're motivated by video meetings and team messaging, and workers without team messaging said they are twice as likely not to have friends at work.
Still with me? Or did you bounce over to Facebook?
Losing 60 minutes a day of productivity is equivalent to being gone more than six weeks a year, RingCentral pointed out.
But more than 90 percent of respondents to the same survey said they are driven on the job, including half who say they are very motivated, HR Dive reported. And 88 percent said they are committed to doing their best while they’re at work.
So how do these paradigms co-exist? Daniel Pink, the author of “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing,” told St. Louis Public Radio that scheduling 10- or 15-minute breaks throughout the work day helps improve work performance. The key is to practice full detachment from the workplace, he said.
Effective breaks can include napping, taking a walk or spending time outside with somebody else, Pink said.
