THE STATE OF

WORKPLACE DISTRACTIONS
How U.S. employees are spending their time at work not working
Order of time spent on non-work related activities done by employees while on the clock at work:

1st

2nd

Taking breaks to the office

kitchen/water cooler/break
room (other than for lunch)

3rd

Taking trips to
the bathroom

5th

6th

Online personal errands

(e.g., paying bills online,
online shopping, etc.)

4th

Participating in small
talk/gossip with coworkers

Corresponding (phone,
email, text, social media)
with family members

7th

Corresponding (phone, email,

text, social media) with
non-work-related friends

8th

Using social media for

non-work-related reasons

Watching TV (including
mobile and computer)

Upper management and executives consistently spend more time participating in each of these
activities than lower-level employees (entry-level, intermediate, and middle management)
Who said they are spending more than 30 min per day doing each of these activities:

18%

upper management

20%

of employees think
workplace distractions

ENHANCE
their workplace performance

3rd

4th

5th

Surfing the web

2nd

Talking with friends

1st

Trips to water
cooler or break room

Talking with family

5th

Talking with family

Taking a lunch

4th

Using social media

3rd

HINDER

The top five activities they feel hinder performance the most

Listening to music

2nd

of employees think workplace

distractions consistently

their workplace performance

Office gossip

1st

Trips to water
cooler or break room

The top five activities they feel enhance performance the most

7% 13%
Watching TV

Using social media

8% 11%

Talking to friends

9% 15% 11% 15% 9% 15%

Surfing the web

8% 15%

Talking with family

4% 11%

Office gossip

Trips to water
cooler or break room

8% 19%

Bathroom breaks

lower-level employees

Women consider office small talk/gossip to be more important to workplace

productivity than men; men consider using social media for personal use to be
more important to workplace productivity than women

56 percent of employees say they try

to make up for time spent on
personal, non-work-related activities
while at work by working at home or
in the office after standard work hours

56%

42%

39 percent of those spend

more than 30 minutes per
day making up for it

34%

68 percent of employees feel using social

media for personal reasons as a break
from work tasks is appropriate

68%

42 percent of employees listen

to music at least 30 minutes per
day while on the clock at work

53%

34 percent of employees say

listening to music while on the clock
at work makes them more productive

Only 53 percent of employees take

lunch each day, and one in four take
lunch two days a week or fewer

It varies by how much time they feel is appropriate to spend on social media:
Too much work to do is the leading
cause that employees dont take lunch

11

12

1
Half feel fewer than 10 minutes
per day is appropriate

10
9

1 in 5 of those who dont regularly take lunch

say that its because theyve traded them for
other breaks theyve taken during the day

3
4

8
7

4 in 10 feel 10-30 minutes

daily is appropriate

1 in 10 feel more than 30

minutes daily is appropriate

Across the board, work schedules have become more fluid and the lines
between work and life continue to blur. Executives are leading the way as
they embrace the power of allowing a certain level of distractions and
not only allowing it, but even encouraging it. And while workplace
distractions may hinder workplace productivity for some, overall,
companies should ensure a healthy level are taking place to maintain
employee satisfaction and retention.

The October 2015 study collected responses via an online survey from 1,005 U.S.-based individuals who are currently
employed full time, over the age of 18 and located in the U.S. This research was generated by BambooHR.