22 Time Management Statistics to Help Ease Your Workload
Meeting Excessiveness: Two-thirds of meetings are unnecessary and take away time that team members could be spending on project work.
Manual Task Burden: 62% of workdays are consumed by manual tasks, but you can implement automation tools to help streamline these processes.
Communication Overload: 88% of a typical workweek is spent on communication, which reduces time for actual job duties.
Time management statistics reveal trends in what’s taking up employee time and where productivity is lacking globally. Here’s a roundup of statistics on time management that can help you understand what’s happening on your own team, make improvements to help team members get more done with the work time they have, and boost your time management skills.
Time Allocation & Workload Balance Statistics
These time management statistics cover how team members are spending their time and whether workloads are balanced.
1. Team members spend 60% of each day on coordination
Instead of performing their job duties, the average person spends most of their time doing “work about work”—giving updates on the project status, looking for information about tasks, or managing changes in priorities. According to a recent report from Asana, these types of activities take up 60% of each person’s average workday.
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If your team isn’t focused on their core tasks because coordination is taking up so much time, progress will slow and work won’t be completed by the deadline. Clear your team’s plate of unnecessary activities and clarify priorities so they can work on what they were hired to do.
2. Team members spend 27% of their time on the job they were hired for
According to that same Asana report, your team is only spending 27% of their time on tasks and responsibilities they were hired for. This is an important indicator of productivity. If your team isn’t spending time on their actual job, it’ll be tough to get projects and tasks completed on time.
Find out what your team is working on beyond their job description and see if you can take those items off their plates. Prioritization is important—if those other tasks are important, schedule them for a specific time so your team is clear about what to work on first.
3. Team members lose 62% of their day to manual, repetitive tasks
Another revelation from Asana’s report is that 62% of each work day is lost to manual and repetitive tasks. This includes things like filling out timesheets, sending work for reviews or approvals, and updating the status of items in your project management software.
Workflow automation tools can carry out repetitive tasks for you. Let’s say you set up an automation that fires when a team member marks a deliverable as ready for approval. The software can send you an email notification, ping the next team member who’ll work on it, and update the team member’s timesheet based on how long they spent working on it.
4. 88% of a worker’s typical workweek is spent on communication
The average employee spends the majority of their time on communication, according to a recent report from Grammarly. This includes meeting time, time spent drafting and checking emails and Slack messages, and face-to-face conversations. Remote work is partially responsible; with fewer people in the office, the team spends more time in meetings and communicating updates.
To reduce the amount of time people spend communicating (and increase time spent on their actual jobs), adhere to strict meeting agendas, encourage the use of AI tools for drafting communications, and help your team build communication skills.
Statistics on Interruptions, Meetings, & Notifications
These time management facts cover distractions and interruptions that lower productivity.
5. Team members find two-thirds of meetings they attend unnecessary
Another important takeaway from the Asana report is that team members feel most meetings are unnecessary. They take valuable time away from priorities and drain your team’s energy and motivation—especially meetings that could have been an email.
Before scheduling a meeting, evaluate whether it’s necessary. If you’re looking for a status update or to deliver uncomplex information, you’re better off sending an email. If you decide to have a meeting, have a clear agenda and stick to the time you’ve allocated.
6. Almost one-third of employees log overtime, primarily due to a high volume of emails and notifications
According to Asana’s data, close to one-third of office workers regularly log overtime, with the main reason being an unending stream of notifications, emails, and Slack messages. Notification overload is a common problem, one that’s also tied to an increase in remote work.
Schedule time for “deep work,” where you’re focused on the task at hand and notifications are muted. Don’t check your notifications during this time—it’ll interrupt your flow and you’ll need time to refocus. Let team members know it’s okay to do the same (barring an emergency). With more focus time, employees shouldn’t need to stay late (or check notifications outside of work).
7. In Australia, unexpected meetings are the primary reason workers stay late
Asana’s data suggests that for Australian workers, the primary reason behind overtime is unexpected meetings. These are just as bad as unnecessary meetings—when you schedule them in advance, everyone can plan their day around them.
When meetings pop up unexpectedly, work gets shifted around, which means something has to get bumped. If the item that gets bumped has a hard deadline, your team might have to stay late. Try not to add last-minute meetings to your team’s calendars (again, barring an emergency).
8. Too much work is the main source of stress for one-third of U.S. employees
Asana’s report shows the main source of stress for one-third of American employees is having too much work. This is a common problem with many causes—changes or increases in job descriptions over time, attrition on the team, or new work being added without proper prioritization.
Communicate the priority level of any new work. Without this clarity, the team might prioritize the wrong thing, get overwhelmed, or try to multitask (which further hurts productivity). Schedule work that has to get done, and see what low-value tasks you can remove or deprioritize.
Wasted Time, Inefficiencies, & Duplicate Work Statistics
These statistics show the importance of time management in reducing inefficient processes and waste.
9. People waste 91 minutes per day on unimportant meetings and tasks
According to a recent study from Acuity Training, team members spend an average of an hour and a half per day on tasks and meetings that aren’t relevant to their roles. This means less time for work that will move the needle or take your projects closer to the finish line.
Before you send a meeting invite, scrutinize the guest list—do all invitees need to be there? Is the meeting relevant to the tasks and deliverables they are working on? The same goes for tasks. Before you assign something new, make sure it’s within the scope of their job description.
10. Half of employees have never audited their time
Another finding from Acuity Training’s study was that almost half of employees have never audited their time. You should keep a close eye on how team members are spending their time by default—timesheets affect billing, after all—but it’s also worth asking the team to look at their own time on a regular basis and conduct a time audit.
Once they have a chance to analyze how much time and effort they’re spending per task, they’ll see whether their effort is matching their impact, find areas to improve, and implement changes that make them more efficient.
11. 70% of employees lose 20 hours a week to inefficient processes and tools
A report from Quickbase suggests almost 70% of workers lose half their week to “fragmented systems”—data spread out across tools, outdated processes, and inefficient systems. This leads to losses in productivity, time, and revenue.
Have a single source of truth for your projects (i.e. a project management software tool) that includes all the information your team needs to complete their tasks, instead of five different spreadsheets, a collaboration tool, a separate tool to track time, and a tool to track progress.
12. U.S. companies lose almost $500 billion to employee productivity
A recent study from Economist Impact shows that U.S. companies collectively lose $468 billion to low productivity and distractions. Team members are not getting as much done as they could, which is impacting the bottom line for your business.
This is not to say that workers are slacking or procrastinating on purpose—many distractions (sometimes important ones) can take time away from core tasks. Time management practices like scheduling focus time and silencing notifications can help here.
13. Employees spend 10% of their day on tasks that have already been completed
Asana’s report highlights that workers spend 10% of their day on work that’s already been completed. This adds up to over 200 hours per year wasted on duplicate work.
Keep your project management software up to date with what’s been completed, what needs to be done, and who is working on what. You should also be holding stand-ups and regular check-ins, but keep an eye on communication levels as well. Are team members handing over work efficiently? Are they updating each other on what’s been done? You can also set up clear processes and automations to keep things running smoothly.
Statistics on Time Management Systems & Tools
These time management statistics cover the use of time management software tools and systems for better time management.
14. Only 18% of people have a dedicated time management system
Acuity Training’s recent study shows that less than 20% of employees have a dedicated system for managing and prioritizing their time. With a dedicated time management system, you and your team can work more efficiently and get more done.
Your system might include task management tools or time tracking software, as well as tactics like to-do lists, calendar blocking, and specialized time management strategies like the pomodoro technique or “eating the frog.”
15. One-third of employees use a to do list to manage time and tasks
One-third of workers use to-do lists to manage their tasks and time, making it the most popular time management method for doing so, according to Acuity Training. The important thing is that you and your team use what works for your projects and processes. Don’t force everyone to use the same to-do list if they prefer to organize their important tasks in a different way.
16. One-quarter of employees use their email inbox to manage time and tasks
According to that same Acuity Training study, 25% of people use their email inbox to manage their time and tasks. This is a good option for team members that live in their inbox, like those in sales, customer service, IT, and marketing.
Again, let your team work the way they do best. You can also connect your inbox to your project management software or CRM so that all project info can stay in one place even if teams are working out of their individual inboxes.
17. People using the Eisenhower matrix are more likely to feel their work is under control
According to Acuity Training’s study, 50% of those who said they use the Eisenhower matrix to manage their time and tasks feel their workloads are under control every day. The other 50% said their workloads are under control 4 days per week.
The Eisenhower matrix divides work into 4 categories: urgent and important, urgent but not important, important but not urgent, and neither urgent nor important. Start using it yourself before getting the team involved. You can use it for your own project management tasks or to prioritize project work.
18. The time tracking software market will be worth $32 billion by 2028
Analysis from Data Bridge Market Research shows the time tracking software market is growing. This is likely because business owners need to make sure employees are being productive (this goes hand-in-hand with the return to office increase and employees being asked to do more with less).
A growing market encourages competition between time tracking vendors who want to maximize their market share, which makes it a great time to invest in time tracking software. Choose a tool that fits your needs when it comes to required features, team size, integrations with existing software tools, and pricing.
Statistics on Clarity, Purpose, & Productivity Gains
These time management stats cover how clarity and purpose can increase productivity.
19. Under half of workers get how their work contributes to success
Asana’s recent study found that 46% of employees don’t understand how their output helps their org achieve its goals and objectives. This is a recipe for disengagement and a lack of time management.
Keep team members in the loop on how work contributes to project and organizational success. They will have a clearer idea of their priorities and be more motivated and productive when they can see how their work fits into the bigger picture.
20. In Japan, 19% of workers get how they contribute to success
According to Asana’s report, even fewer Japanese employees understand how their work helps their org achieve its goals (19%). This is significantly lower than the global average (46%). The same advice applies here. At the beginning of new projects or initiatives, invest time in helping your team see the bigger picture they are contributing to.
21. In the U.K., 68% of employees are tasked with work that doesn’t contribute to organizational success every week
According to Asana, 68% of U.K. workers are asked to complete work each week that doesn’t support the company’s or project’s objectives. This takes team member time away from priority work that does support your objectives, and working on tasks that are not valuable or relevant will demoralize your team.
Prioritize and consider whether tasks are nice to have and therefore less urgent. There also might be some that are not worth completing—the Eisenhower matrix can help with this.
22. Workers in a flow state are up to 5 times more productive
According to research from McKinsey, employees are up to five times more productive when in a “flow” state. The “flow” state is associated with sports, and in it, you’re completely focused on executing what needs to be done. It’s not possible to enter “flow” on command—it depends on how much you enjoy the activity, your typical routine, and any distractions happening near you.
However, you can keep your team engaged and motivated by giving recognition where it’s due, letting them see the big picture, and providing flexibility on task assignments, working hours, and meeting attendance where you can (although this is not always possible).
FAQs about Time Management
Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about time management.
What are the biggest time management challenges project managers face?
The biggest time management challenges that project managers face include interruptions from meetings, emails, and notifications which reduce focus; scope changes and shifting priorities; and miscommunications that lead to errors and rework. Helpful time management techniques include time-blocking, setting dedicated focus time, and prioritizing using the Eisenhower matrix.
How can project managers help their teams prioritize tasks effectively?
Project managers can help their team prioritize tasks by clarifying priorities with techniques like the Eisenhower matrix, MoSCoW, and backlog grooming.
The Eisenhower matrix and MoSCoW method help with decision-making about what to work on first, what to delegate, what to schedule, and what to remove. Backlog grooming (used in Scrum and agile methods) involves choosing which tasks to work on in a set amount of time. Check in with team members as often as possible to make sure they understand what’s expected.
What role does project management software play in time management?
Project management software is extremely helpful for time management. It often includes a time tracking feature, which helps you understand how long tasks take and where team members might be spending too much (or not enough) time. Project management tools also help track progress on tasks and improve accountability by providing clarity into who’s working on what.
How does poor time management affect team morale and burnout?
Poor time management negatively affects team morale and causes burnout. When team members are trapped by meetings and notifications instead of priorities, they’ll feel stressed and in some cases, may have to work extra hours. This leads to burnout and a lack of work-life balance, which causes team members to disengage, reduces morale, and increases attrition.
What are best practices for project managers to model proper time management for their teams?
Project managers can lead by example to model effective time management for their teams—blocking time for focused and deep work, muting notifications when needed, setting boundaries, and declining unnecessary meetings. At the project level, you can set realistic deadlines and estimates for work, clarify priorities on a regular basis, and prevent scope creep.
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