Tech Rich Time Poor
In 2000 Priority Management conducted an international survey of business people.
The focus: the impact of technology on personal productivity.
Our survey found people have an abundance of technology at their fingertips - they
are Tech Rich. But they constantly juggle personal and professional demands on
their time - they are Time Poor.
The implications of the Tech Rich: Time Poor workplace for organizations, individuals
and society as a whole are crucial... and worth exploring.
The Productivity Puzzle
As a worldwide training company, Priority Management regularly conducts research
into productivity issues. The impact of technology on personal productivity is
the focus of our latest international survey.
The online survey of more than 2000 business people from around the globe asked
about how people use technology, their workload and their attitudes about
technology.
This research uncovered a clear finding: business people today have an abundance
of technology to use. But they continue to struggle to meet personal and professional
demands on their time.
While business people today are Tech Rich, they remain Time Poor.
Today's technology has the potential to significantly boost personal productivity. But
first we have to adapt to a Tech Rich environment and learn to harness technology to
meet our individual needs.
Tech Rich
New, faster, more robust technologies seem to appear almost every day. And the
business world is adopting these new technologies with enthusiasm.
Priority Management's survey finds:
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87% of respondents use technology at work more than a year ago.
E-mail, Internet and cell phone use increased dramatically in the past year.
The clear leader in technology growth is e-mail. More than 80% of
people use e-mail more today than a year ago.
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One in five people deals with more than 20 incoming e-mails a day.
While new technologies offer tremendous potential, a full 92% of respondents say
they are not using new technologies at their maximum capacity.
While people are willing to adopt new technology to improve their effectiveness at
work, is there a price to pay in their personal lives?
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One in three people say more technology makes them feel more stressed.
While most people say new technologies help them reach their professional
goals, almost 40% say technology is no help in attaining their personal goals.
Clearly, many people are having trouble balancing the personal side of their lives in
our technology culture.
Time Poor
One of the major impacts of technology in the workplace is the accelerating pace
of work. This is making it harder for people to fulfill personal commitments.
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80% of respondents work more than the standard 40-hour work week.
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More than 80% say their work demands are growing due to more information
coming at them.
More than half (57%) have recently been told by someone significant in their
life "You work too much".
When asked how they would spend an extra hour a day, only 7% said they
would spend it working. The most common choices were personal pursuits exercising, learning and time with partner and/or family.
There's more stress than satisfaction in today's workplace.
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60% of respondents feel stressed three days per week.
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Only 5% say they feel a sense of personal accomplishment at the end of
every day.
Technology Addiction?
Increasingly, people find themselves "on call" - accessible by cell phone or e-mail
almost anywhere. But is this urge to be accessible creating an addiction to
technology?
Just because you can be accessible doesn't mean you should be.
With increased accessibility comes a blurring of the lines between our personal and
professional lives. As the survey shows, our personal lives are the losers.
Our productivity at work is also being impaired by the ineffective use of technology
and forgetting skills such as planning, managing priorities and goal-setting. This
management skills amnesia is resulting in long working hours, high levels of
stress and unbalanced lifestyles, despite the productivity promise of technology.
Although we have more tools at our disposal, they are not productivity tools until
we learn how to use them properly.
Instead, we run the risk of becoming victims of "tech stress" as we squander
valuable time being busy rather than being effective.
Priority Management's 12-Step Program to Succeed in a Tech
Rich Workplace
Addiction to technology can impair both your personal and professional lives. Follow
these 12 steps to start using technology more effectively and improve your personal
productivity.
1. Start your day with a plan, not your e-mail
Do you start your day by looking at your e-mail? This can sidetrack you from
your true priorities and waste some of the most productive hours of the day.
Don't let your technology override your essential management skills. Identify
your priorities at the beginning of the day and stick to that plan.
2. Schedule personal time
If you don't show respect for your time with family, exercising or personal
hobbies, no one else will - especially not your boss or clients. Recognize that
sometimes, personal activities are priorities that should be managed too and
not just relegated for any time left over after work. Include your 5 p.m.
workout or 6 p.m. Little League practice into your daily schedule.
3. Control your cell
Decide when you will turn on your cell phone and respond to calls, and when
you turn it off so you can focus on important personal pursuits. You might
want to consider keeping your cell phone number private so that it is truly for
just your use and not someone else's convenience.
4. Ease up on e-mail
Checking your e-mail every 30 minutes or keeping a long list of messages in
your In-box are signs of ineffective e-mail management. Learn how to use email to save time, not squander it.
5. Surf on your own time
Research shows most people use office time to surf the Internet for personal
reasons. Don't let an infatuation with the Web rob you of valuable productive
time at work. Save the surfing for your personal time and set a time limit
before you start surfing to ensure you maintain control of your time.
6. Don't be a slave to your voice mail
Be disciplined about checking your messages. Don't pick up messages more
than 4 times during the day. Otherwise your voice mail becomes a
productivity bandit that distracts you from your high priority tasks.
7. Take a quiet hour
Schedule a regular time each day when you focus on your own business goals
and don't let technology interrupt you. Shut your office door, let calls go to
voice-mail and ignore the e-mail so you can work on important projects
uninterrupted.
8. Use a single source
Where's that important phone number - in an address book, in a wireless
device or on a business card in your wallet? By keeping all contact info, your
daily plan and your schedule in one place, you'll save valuable time when you
need to access important details.
9. Don't be a slave to trends
If you frequently change the technology you use, take a moment to consider
why. If you think the latest, fastest technology will make you more
productive, you are doomed to be disappointed. Stop changing devices and
start building your personal management skills.
10. Don't rob your family
Don't deny your family of your time and attention by being constantly
accessible by cell phone, pager or e-mail. One way to de-stress from the work
day is to turn off your cell phone 10 minutes before you get home so you can
shift from your professional life to your personal life.
11. Balance your skills
Invest in learning how to master the technology you use. Balance these
technology skills with essential management skills - fundamental skills such
as planning, managing priorities and delegation - so you can use the
technology to achieve your priorities. Make sure your technology is making
you more productive and not just busier.
12. Put your technology to the test
Look at the technology tools you use. Ask yourself how the technology will
make you smarter and perform better on the job. By asking this question,
you'll save yourself loads of time, stress and money.
Towards Tech Rich: Time Rich
Today's technology tools offer tremendous potential for increasing our
productivity.
Once we understand how to harness this potential, we can use technology to gain
control of our lives, become more effective at work and reap the benefits of a
balanced lifestyle.
Survey Methodology
The "Tech Rich: Time Poor" survey was completed by over 2000 business people
around the world.
The age of respondents ranged from under 17 years to more than 70 years. Most
respondents (68%) were between the ages of 30 and 49.
The online survey was an 18-question multiple choice questionnaire. The results are
considered to be accurate within +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20.
Share Your Ideas
Do you:
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have any comments about our Tech Rich: Time Poor survey?
have any productivity tips you'd like to share?
Contact us at feedback@prioritymanagement.com