Press release -
Time Management Statistics & Facts (New 2021 Research)
We have done some new original research to see how people are managing their time in 2021.
Using detailed analysis of 5 questions we’ve discovered:
– Less than 1 in 5 people (18%) have a proper time management system.
– 82% of people don’t have a time management system. They just use a list, their email inbox or nothing at all.
– The Eisenhower matrix is the most successful time management technique.
– 100% of people using this technique feel their work is under control either 4 or 5 days per week.
– The least successful time management technique is ‘dealing with whatever comes up’.
– 28% of people using this technique feel their work is never or very rarely (1 day per week) under control.
– 1 in 8 people (12.5%) never feel under control at work.
– 49% of people have never carried out a time audit to see how they spend their time.
The questions we asked were:
- How do you manage your time at work?
- How often do things feel under control at work?
- Have you ever carried out a time audit?
- How much time do you have to ‘waste’ per day on tasks / in meetings that aren’t a priority for you?
- How often do you look at your emails at work?
Let’s take a look at what we found.
QUESTION 1: HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME AND TASKS?
1: 18% OF PEOPLE HAVE A DEDICATED TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
82% OF PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE A DEDICATED TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
2: 33% OF PEOPLE USE A TO DO LIST TO MANAGE THEIR TIME AND TASKS.
3: 24% OF PEOPLE USE THEIR EMAIL INBOX AS THEIR TIME AND TASK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
4: 12% OF PEOPLE SCHEDULE ALL OF THEIR TASKS IN THEIR DIARY IN ADVANCE.
5: 25% OF PEOPLE “JUST DEAL WITH WHATEVER SEEMS MOST IMPORTANT AT THE TIME”
![How do you manage your time and tasks?](https://nitrocdn.com/CDmrWNxxovJagbsQYojgxqBNGbLzBqfa/assets/static/optimized/rev-517242b/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Picture-1-1024x650.jpg)
QUESTION 2: HOW OFTEN DO THINGS FEEL UNDER CONTROL AT WORK?
- 1: 20% OF PEOPLE FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL EVERY DAY
- 2: 66% (2/3rds) OF PEOPLE FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL MOST OF THE TIME (AT LEAST 3 DAYS PER WEEK
- 3: OVER 20% (21%) FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS EITHER NEVER UNDER CONTROL OR ONLY UNDER CONTROL 1 DAY PER WEEK.
- 4: MORE 10% OF PEOPLE (1 in 8) FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS NEVER UNDER CONTROL
ANALYSIS: BEST & WORST TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
- 1: ‘JUST DEALING WITH WHATEVER COMES UP” IS THE LEAST SUCCESSFUL TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.
- MORE THAN 1 IN 4 (28%) OF PEOPLE USING THIS FEEL THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL NEVER OR ONLY ONE DAY PER WEEK.
- 2: THE EISENHOWER MATRIX IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL (“BEST”) STRATEGY.
- 50% OF PEOPLE WITH THIS ANSWER FEEL THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL EVERY DAY.
- 50% OF PEOPLE WITH THIS ANSWER FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL 4 DAYS OF THE WEEK.
- 3: THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE IS THE SECOND MOST SUCCESSFUL TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.
- 1: 1 IN 5 PEOPLE CARRY OUT A TIME AUDIT REGULARLY (AT LEAST ONCE PER MONTH) TO SEE HOW THEY ARE SPENDING THEIR TIME.
- 2: ALMOST 1 IN 3 (31%) OF PEOPLE CARRY ONE OUT OCCASIONALLY.
- 3: ALMOST HALF (49%) OF PEOPLE HAVE NEVER CARRIED OUT A TIME AUDIT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY SPEND THEIR TIME.
- ON AVERAGE PEOPLE “WASTE” 1 1/2 HOURS (91 MINUTES) EACH DAY ON TASKS AND MEETINGS THAT AREN’T IMPORTANT TO THEIR ROLE.
- ALMOST 2 IN 5 (39%) OF PEOPLE SPEND LESS THAN AN HOUR PER DAY ON TASKS AND MEETINGS NOT IMPORTANT TO THEIR ROLE.
- OVER 10% (10.5%) ‘WASTE’ MORE THAN A THIRD (37.5) OF THEIR TIME ON TASKS AND MEETINGS NOT IMPORTANT TO THEIR ROLE.
- THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PEOPLE USING DIFFERENT TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, EXCEPT TIME BOXING.
- PEOPLE WHO USE TIME BOXING TO MANAGE THEIR TIME ON AVERAGE ‘WASTE’ 2 HOURS 20 MINUTES PER DAY ON TASKS NOT RELEVANT TO THEIR KEY PRIORITIES.
- THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RESULTS FOR PEOPLE USING ALL THE OTHER TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES.
- ON AVERAGE PEOPLE LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS EVERY HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES (101 MINUTES) BUT THERE ARE BIG DIFFERENCES.
- 1 IN 6 PEOPLE ( 16.6 %) SAID THEY “LIVE IN EMAIL” AS IT IS THEIR PRIMARY WORK TOOL.
- OVER 50% (51%) OF PEOPLE LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS AT LEAST EVERY 20 MINUTES IN THE WORKING DAY.
- 19% OF PEOPLE LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS AT LEAST ONCE AN HOUR.
- ALMOST 20% (19.4%) OF PEOPLE LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS EITHER ONLY ONCE PER DAY OR LESS THAN ONCE PER DAY.
- PEOPLE WHO ‘JUST DO WHATEVER SEEMS MOST IMPORTANT ” LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS LEAST OFTEN. ON AVERAGE THEY LOOK EVERY 2 HOURS 13 MINUTES.
- PEOPLE WHO USE EMAIL AS THEIR MAIN TASK MANAGEMENT TOOL LOOK AT THEIR EMAILS MOST OFTEN, ON AVERAGE LOOKING EVERY 56 MINUTES.
- 18-24
- 25-34
- 35-44
- 45-54
- 54-65
60% OF PEOPLE USING THIS TECHNIQUE FEEL THAT THEIR WORK IS UNDER CONTROL 4 OR 5 DAYS PER WEEK.
![How often do you feel you have things under control at work?](https://nitrocdn.com/CDmrWNxxovJagbsQYojgxqBNGbLzBqfa/assets/static/optimized/rev-517242b/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Picture-2-1024x667.jpg)
An Eisenhower matrix worksheet can be found at the bottom of time management course page.
QUESTION 3: HAVE YOU EVER CARRIED OUT A TIME AUDIT?
![Have you ever carried out a time audit graphy](https://nitrocdn.com/CDmrWNxxovJagbsQYojgxqBNGbLzBqfa/assets/static/optimized/rev-517242b/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Picture-3-1-560x273.jpg)
For details on how to carry out a time audit please see our article: how to carry out a time audit.
QUESTION 4: HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND ON TASKS & MEETINGS THAT AREN’T IMPORTANT TO YOUR ROLE?
ANALYSIS: HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND ON WORK TASKS THAT AREN’T IMPORTANT?
![How much time do you spend each day on tasks not relevant to your role graph](https://nitrocdn.com/CDmrWNxxovJagbsQYojgxqBNGbLzBqfa/assets/static/optimized/rev-517242b/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Question-4-1024x467.jpg)
QUESTION 5: HOW MANY TIMES PER DAY DO YOU LOOK AT YOUR EMAIL?
ANALYSIS: HOW MANY TIMES PER DAY DO YOU LOOK AT EMAIL?
![](https://nitrocdn.com/CDmrWNxxovJagbsQYojgxqBNGbLzBqfa/assets/static/optimized/rev-517242b/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/QUESTION-5-1024x510.jpg)
RESEARCH DETAILS
The research for these statistics was carried out using Pollfish. 500 people were surveyed.
It polled a representative sample of working people. It was evenly split between male (46%) and female (54%).
It was evenly split between age groups with 20% of the replies being received from people in each of the following age categories.
This time management research was first published on Development Academy
Topics
- Business enterprise, General