20 Time Management Stats Businesses Should Rely on to Rethink Practices in 2025
Scenario: It’s nine in the morning, your Starbucks coffee is still warm, and you’ve just finished scanning the to-do list. You feel inspired—this day is going to be your most productive one yet. So, you pick the first item on the list, start drafting an email, and wait a minute…
One look at the clock and your spirits are crushed. It’s ten past three. Did you do the tasks on the list? Barely. Assistance requests from colleagues—unanswered, checklists—empty, team meetings—ignored. Come to think of it, you didn’t even finish the letter you started writing in the morning.
This happens to so many of us that we start to question our skills and wonder if we have a future with the company. To clear our minds, we’ve decided to delve deeper into time management statistics, seeing them as the reliable source of factual information. Continue reading the article to learn what time management is, its impact on both a business and individual level, as well as how to improve your skills.
What is Time Management?
Time management is a technique for planning your day with precision, so you can actually do the productive tasks that contribute to your overarching goals.
A day consists of 24 hours or 1,440 minutes. If we take into account personal time, commute to work, coffee breaks, etc., we only have so much time to devote ourselves fully to work. Physics won’t allow us to expand days indefinitely, but hope is not lost. We can learn to make the most of our time.
The objective of time management is to keep a close eye on time spent on tasks throughout the day, improve future planning, and, ultimately, progress toward goals at a faster pace. For a regular office Joe, achieving this is honestly hard. However, with enough effort, it’s attainable, regardless of a job role.
Start by creating a plan encompassing all tasks that you need to accomplish to move forward with a project. And, if your home life is in chaos, you can compile a list of all domestic chores and do them one by one until you can relax in front of the TV, knowing that everything is under control.
Effects of Poor Time Management on Employees and Business
It is clear that time management is an invaluable skill that enables us to prioritize tasks and complete them in a timely manner. But what happens when we do not have the skill or when there is no corporate culture that puts a strong emphasis on time management? The impact on productivity of individual employees and business operations in general will be negative, if not outright devastating
Here’s what can happen when companies don’t create a corporate time management culture:
Employee burnout: Poor time management results in loss of productivity. Workers that can’t manage their time effectively, simply cannot do their tasks before the deadline. This means goals will not be met and employees will feel a pressure to work overtime hours, leading to burnout. Time management and stress statistics show this.
Bad scheduling: Employees are not the only ones who are responsible for successful time management within a company. Top management supervision plays a crucial role in making schedules that consider the difficulty of a task and workers skills. Failure in this regard can lead to schedules that are impossible to keep up with. There's just not enough hours in a day.
High operating costs: Time is of the essence in all things, and especially in money-making enterprises. A company without a time management culture in place is destined to have employees that spend their workdays unproductively. The effects of this? Squandered resources, workers staying up late, and more expenses with less revenue.
Decline in innovation: When employees are bogged down with too many tasks and can’t get them done on time, they won’t have the energy to think outside the box. For the business, not having a focus on new ways of working can mean stagnation. As employees are stuck with unfinished tasks, it’s hard for the company to drive new ideas and stay competitive.
Key Time Management Facts and Figures
1. 82% of People Lack a Time Management System
The history of time management began with the wish to improve productivity in manufacturing, then spread to other industries and environments. These days, we’ve all heard of it, and many of us practice it on a daily basis, but the funny thing is that 82% of people don't rely on a time management system.
2. 20% of Workers Waste Time Because They are Bored
The effect of boredom on businesses is significant. Employees lacking interest in their job duties are more likely to loiter around the water cooler chatting with colleagues or scroll Instagram feed for hours on end. If 20% of employees don’t work out of boredom, can a business really expect to grow?
3. Business Owners Dawdle 7 Hours a Week
Employees aren’t the only ones who have issues with time management. Business owners devote up to 7 hours a week to activities that have no return value. What are these activities? It’s the usual suspects: constant meetings, long-winded emails, and physical documents, as opposed to digitized ones.
4. A Person Checks their Smartphone 96 Times per Day
The invention of smartphones gave us unprecedented access to information and instilled a yearning for minute-to-minute distractions. According to studies, the average American reaches for their mobile phone every 10 minutes. Workers and business owners who have this unfortunate habit harm the company's profits.
5. $588 Billion in Losses Every Year due to Distractions
Being an office worker has its advantages like access to company’s resources and more opportunities for professional growth. The drawbacks? Round-the-clock interruptions. Research shows that an average office employee in the US is interrupted at work 11 times per hour. Costs for business? Astronomical, with $588 billion lost every year.
Work Time Management Statistics
1. 92% of People Use Components of the Eisenhower Matrix
Not a great deal of people use a time management system to organize their work, with the Eisenhower Matrix accounting for only 1%. What is surprising is that 92% of respondents use components of this system (to-do list, scheduling, delegation). By committing fully, they could dramatically increase their productivity.
2. 50% Employees Aren’t Engaged at Work
Low engagement is directly related to productivity loss. Gallup’s findings demonstrate that 50% of employees in the US are not engaged in work activities. A phenomenon known as "quiet quitting” is on the rise, and can cost the economy around $1.9 trillion.
3. 60% of CEOs Believe Time Spent on Routine Tasks is Wasteful
Tasks that constitute the backbone of a business, such as managing documentation, payroll administration, and exchanging emails with clients, can hold back more important projects. 60% of CEOs who’ve taken part in PwC’s Annual Global CEO Survey agree with this sentiment.
4. 57% of Time is Spent on Communication
A study released by Microsoft shows that the average employee who uses their products spends 57% of their time communicating by email, in chats or meetings. This is almost 5 hours a day devoted to communication. The consequence of this imbalance is manifested in 68% of respondents claiming they can’t focus on their main job duties.
5. $37 Billion in Losses due to Unproductive Meetings
One cannot collaborate effectively without meeting with stakeholders and discussing work-related questions. But what if meetings become too frequent or have no discernible structure? All working hours will be spent on gathering together in an office room or on a videoconference call to talk about nothing. This is the result of poor time management, with an estimated toll on businesses of $37 billion annually.
Home Time Management Statistics
1. 10% of Time Doing House Chores
Prepping food for the week, washing dishes, vacuuming carpets, and doing laundry—all these chores take up a hefty chunk of our time, 10% to be exact. Of course, hours of scrubbing floors could be exchanged for hours at an office progressing toward a business goal. However, with a solid time management system, you can make time for both.
2. 81% of Remote Workers Check Emails After Work
To maintain a good work-life balance, it is important to establish clear boundaries, like not answering messages on weekends or not working overtime. Failure to do so can cause burnout and damage your mental health. Despite the overwhelming evidence, 81% of remote workers check their emails when their work hours are over.
3. 50% of Team Collaboration is in Messengers
With the advent of technology, working from home is no longer a novelty. There are powerful tools to make remote and office work indistinguishable from one another in terms of quality and performance. As per Buffer’s report, 50% of all team collaboration is done within a messaging application. It could be a corporate messenger like Slack or chats within a business management platform like Flowlu.
4. 55% of Teleworkers Have More Time for Deep Work
If we eliminate home distractions, it becomes clear that remote work is beneficial in terms of time management. 55% of remote workers claim that this type of work arrangement gives them more time to focus on their immediate work tasks.
5. Remote Employees Do Additional 62 Hours of Work
Daily interruptions in an office environment make it difficult for corporate workers to concentrate on their duties. Because remote workers don’t have to deal with chatty colleagues, they can do an additional 1.5 weeks’ worth of work.
Time Management Statistics For Students
1. 75% Procrastinate Regularly
The statement that most students procrastinate remains unchallenged because they do. According to a recent study, 75% of respondents who are enrolled in college procrastinate on a continuous basis. The cause of this is the lack of time management skills, together with the inability to process negative emotions.
2. 32% Need a Time Management Workshop
While time management skills are taught in high schools, not all students pay attention to these lessons or remember what they’ve learned when getting into a college. 32% of students spoke in favor of time management workshops to boost their educational experience. Once they graduate, they will have the necessary skills to work more efficiently.
HR take note: It’s never too late to provide similar training for existing employees and new hires.
3. 58% Submit Tasks Just Before Deadline
Setting a deadline is not the best way to motivate anyone. Let’s consider a study where participants had a full week to finish and submit a task. Despite plenty of free time to get everything done, 58% of students handed in their assignments within the 24 hours of the last day.
4. 86% Have Difficulties with Time Management
Gitnux findings give a detailed account of the issues US students face when enrolled in a college. Predictably, 86% of undergraduates say they have problems with time management. Doing and submitting assignments in a timely manner is a prerequisite for successfully completing educational courses.
5. 69% of Working Students Report Issues with Time Management
When students work part-time, they have to manage both their academic responsibilities and job duties. It’s not easy. This dual role causes a lot of stress, leading to questionable time management decisions and decreased productivity. 69% of those surveyed claim that they’ve experienced this.
Master Time Management with Flowlu
As our time management statistics demonstrate, timing is everything. They also show that we combat laziness and distractions on a daily basis, and there's a lack of formal training and specialized tools to make this practice an integral part of our business and home lives.
Now that you have a better understanding of time management, you may start to wonder how I can start managing my time better?
Look no further—Flowlu is an intuitive business platform with powerful tools for task management and time tracking. Embrace Kanban boards to better visualize your workflow, know exactly what’s next with to-do lists, track how much time was spent, and view statistics on your performance. Never miss an event by syncing with Google and Apple calendars. Start your journey to better time habits with Flowlu today!
Time management is an effective way to reduce stress levels, boost work productivity, and raise one’s spirits. By prioritizing important tasks and completing them throughout the day, you can complete projects faster and avoid burnout. Additional benefits include more time for recreation.
Poor time management can cause many issues for both business owners and employees. The negative effects include a higher chance of burnout due to late hours, ineffective work schedules, increased operating costs, and a shortage of innovative ideas.
Yes, time management, like any other skill, can be learned and improved through guidance and training. Learning how to efficiently structure your time empowers you to achieve a healthy work-life balance. If you feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to do, time management systems and specialized tools can help you reduce stress and seize the hour.
Time management is a crucial skill for college students as it directly affects their chances of success or failure. According to recent findings, 75% of undergraduates struggle with procrastination every day.
