The problems related to Time Management and Administration continue to worsen. Despite repeated efforts to apply a set of solutions, statistics show either that we aren’t learning or, in any case, the technological whirlwind is sweeping us along with its tide. The feeling is that we are working more and our productivity is decreasing. But in reality, we are working less and getting more distracted by quite unnecessary matters. The question at this moment is whether the application of artificial intelligence will help us partially solve the problem. That is, of course, as long as it doesn’t solve it by replacing us.

Honestly, we barely had time to write this article because several of our collaborators’ schedules are filled with meetings, Slack messages, and unanswered emails.

It’s not surprising, the average worker spends 57% of their time in meetings, answering emails, and chatting, according to a Microsoft study. This causes much less time to be spent on actual work.

It has been hard to find time to write this article.

In the more than two hours that have passed since we gathered to work, we’ve had three Slack meetings, received a couple dozen messages, and had to address a set of administrative tasks.

But this is how most mornings are for almost everyone. Although it’s a norm in the corporate world, it doesn’t mean that I—and many others, I imagine—can escape feeling rushed from the moment the day starts.

A recent Microsoft study helps explain the causes of this phenomenon.

The company has discovered that within its Microsoft 365 applications, workers spend 57% of their time communicating, whether in meetings or answering emails and chats.

Additionally, 68% of those surveyed say they don’t have enough uninterrupted time to concentrate during the workday, according to their 2023 Work Trends Index, which surveyed 31,000 people from 31 countries between February and March 2023.

Billions of productivity signals from Microsoft 365, along with labor trends from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, were also analyzed for the study.

The conclusion is that most of us are so busy with auxiliary tasks that the time we have to focus on our work and innovate is reduced.

Microsoft’s survey also revealed that nearly 60% of executives believe that the lack of innovation or groundbreaking ideas in their teams is a cause for concern.

An ingenious function in Google Calendar alerts us that our team is spending between 15 and 18 hours a week in meetings. And we don’t even want to calculate how many Slack messages I send (or the hours we spend checking the chat app on our laptops and phones).

Microsoft’s survey shows that, across the suite of office applications from the tech giant, those who spend the most time on email dedicate 8.8 hours a week to it and 7.5 hours to meetings.

If we’re all answering emails or going to meetings, when do we actually do our real work? The problem is that we’re all in the same boat, so the system itself is harmful to productivity.

Productivity measures the efficiency of the work done by a company and its employees by comparing output to hours worked. Trends like quiet quitting have severely harmed companies’ productivity results, and this is fueling a hidden economic slowdown.

Productivity is important for the economy because it is the main component for the standard of living of a population. It’s not enough just to make people work more.

We should study how to increase productivity by using technology to improve workflows and overall efficiency, training employees to make the most of these tools.

According to Microsoft’s survey, the top 5 productivity barriers are: ineffective and excessive meetings, lack of clear goals, lack of inspiration, and difficulty finding the necessary information to make decisions.

We’ve been talking for a long time about radically rethinking our workdays, purging meetings, and shortening them, but it hasn’t helped.

Many expect AI to be the answer.

Despite concerns about job replacement by AI, the survey reveals that “employees are hoping AI will alleviate the workload rather than fearing losing their jobs to AI.”

76% of respondents said they would feel comfortable using AI for administrative tasks, and 79% said they would agree to use it for analytical work. Of course, the standout finding is that 80% of people would like AI to eliminate their meetings, and 77% would like help planning their day.

Although the AI frenzy has sparked much fear about the future of work in general, the talent race is underway to develop these products intelligently and safely.

So far, it seems quite clear that AI has the potential to help us manage our workflow, increase productivity, and perhaps reduce some stress for employees overloaded with tasks. What we don’t know is if AI alone will fix our days or our work, but it could help us evolve our way of working and, hopefully, give us time to think.