Working from home comes with its fair share of challenges for remote workers, according to a recent OfficeNeedle survey. After all, they are working from the comfort of their homes, where many responsibilities, as well as leisure possibilities, await them behind every corner.
The survey polled 670 remote workers to find out which activities occupy their time during working hours that have nothing to do with their official duties. Out of them, the majority has traded a long morning commute to work with working from their homes for more than a year.
What Stands In The Way Of Productivity
Mobile phones, social media, Slack games, and other house members are the biggest distractions when working from home, according to the participants who took the survey. Around 56% of them admit that mobile phones are their biggest distraction from productivity.
It comes as no surprise since there is a vast array of possibilities that could hinder our productivity and help us procrastinate available on this omnipresent device. Out of social media, 65% use Facebook, 52% use Instagram, 48% use Youtube, while a quarter of them also admit to scrolling through Twitter during their shifts, as well. Likewise, around 30% of all the survey takers spend more than half an hour and less than an hour consuming social media during office hours. Apart from social media, instant messaging apps are also popular for 50% of them.
Let’s not also forget about the incoming phone or video calls on mobiles phones, as well. Around 30% of the participants said they spend under 30 minutes of their working day on calls that are unrelated to work.
Video Games and On-Demand Streaming Services
But, this is not where remote workers stop. They also seem to be playing video games when they are supposed to be working. Around one-third of all the participants said they play video games during office hours. Around 15% of them do so for over 1 hour during their shift. The majority of those are aged between 25 and 40.
Apart from that, another common distraction for 55% of all the remote workers who took the survey comes in the form of Netflix and other such providers. Moreover, 34% of them watch series and films for over an hour during their shifts.
Other Common Distractions
Instead of taking breaks to go out of the office and grab a bite to eat, remote workers are now cooking in their homes during their shifts, according to 67% of polled participants. One-third of them cook for under half an hour while working from home, the study revealed. Besides cooking, house chores are a common distraction for 77% of survey takers.
Around one in three remote workers also finds time to take a nap during office hours, the study suggests. The majority of them spend between 30 minutes and one hour enjoying their snooze.
Final Words
It seems that working from home is a trend that is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Telecommuting has helped many businesses stay running after the global pandemic changed our normal lives upside down. Remote workers still seem to be adapting to their new offices in form of kitchen tables, bedroom nooks, storage rooms, and even beds-turned-offices. Feeling relaxed in a home environment, the study suggests, might be the reason for many distractions while working from home.
