Trends
Feb 11 2015

By Deanna Hartley,

Whether you call it multitasking, recharging or just good ol’ fashioned procrastinating, we’ve all been guilty of taking a minute here and there during the work day to refresh our Facebook feed, check the latest World Cup scores or run out to grab a cupcake. But which of these distractions cut into U.S. workers’ daily productivity the most?

In a new CareerBuilder survey, employers reveal the top 10 productivity killers at work. 

More than 1 in 4 (24 percent) workers aren’t afraid to spend at least an hour of the work day jumping on personal calls or sending personal emails or texts. Meanwhile, more than 1 in 5 (21 percent) admit that they spend about an hour or more online engaging in non-work-related activities.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 productivity killers at work, according to employers. 

1. Cell phone/texting - 50%
2. Gossip - 42%
3. The Internet - 39%
4. Social Media - 38%
5. Snack breaks or smoke breaks - 27%
6. Noisy co-workers - 24%
7. Meetings - 23%
8. Email - 23%
9. Co-workers dropping by - 23%
10. Co-workers putting calls on speaker phones - 10%

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