Here’s why you can’t get anything done

Posted on by Susan Dyer

This Axios article, Here’s why you can’t get any work done, outlines how much time is spent on Microsoft collaboration tools for an average worker. Microsoft surveyed more than 30,000 workers and the results are pretty interesting.

Here’s the key takeaway: Workers spent more than half (57%) of their time communicating in meetings, email and chat.

Seems about right.

This got me thinking about the number of different “ways” we have to communicate with others, as compared to 20 years ago. At my first adverting/marketing/communications job, I can count on one hand the number of ways I connected and collaborated with others in my professional and personal life.

  1. One-to-one call
  2. Conference call
  3. In-person meeting
  4. Email
  5. “Regular” mail

Here’s a list of all the devices, apps, platforms and digital devices I use today. I’m including typical office platforms “review/comment features” that I use to collaborate with team members to get my work done.

  1. One-to one call
  2. Email
  3. Text message
  4. Email
  5. Teams chat
  6. Teams audio/video calls/meetings
  7. Teams chat during video calls
  8. Zoom
  9. Zoom chat during Zoom meetings
  10. Monday.com chats
  11. Word reviewing/comments
  12. Powerpoint reviewing/comments
  13. Excel reviewing/comments
  14. OneNote
  15. Markup.io
  16. Pdf comments/mark ups
  17. Google docs
  18. Google sheets
  19. Google drive
  20. Sharepoint
  21. Yammer
  22. Slack
  23. Online communities
  24. Facebook Messenger
  25. Facebook
  26. Facebook groups
  27. Instagram
  28. Threads
  29. X
  30. LinkedIn
  31. Event apps

This is more than a 500% increase! No wonder we are so distracted and feel as though we are so busy communicating and collaborating with others that we can’t get our “actual” work done. 😕

Leave a comment