Survey reveals biggest time wasters for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs across all generations are losing weeks of productivity each year to “wasted time,” according to a new study.

The survey polled 2,000 US small business owners, split evenly across generations, and found that respondents waste an average of one hour and 36 minutes each day on tasks they consider unproductive.

This “wasted time” adds up to over three weeks of work per year for small business owners.

Commissioned by Slack and conducted by Talker Research, the survey revealed respondents’ biggest time wasters.

These include non-work-related distractions (57%), procrastination (47%) and the seemingly endless wait for status updates (28%).

But a new productivity killer is emerging: context switching between multiple apps and tools (17%). With the average entrepreneur surveyed juggling four different digital tools every day – and nearly a third of them using five or more digital tools – the cost of technology fragmentation is becoming apparent.

Three in 10 respondents waste time looking for information in the wrong places, while 29% find themselves repeating messages across platforms.

“Business owners today juggle multiple tasks and tools. While digital tools increase productivity, constantly switching between apps can hinder efficiency,” said Jaime DeLanghe, Vice President, Product Management at Slack. “Successful entrepreneurs are learning to streamline their digital workflows, allowing them to focus on growing their business and serving customers better.”

While all respondents deal with “wasted time” during their workday, the survey broke respondents down by generation to see who they thought had the strongest time management skills.

The survey found that Gen Z small business owners consider themselves the best at managing their time, outperforming older generations by a significant margin.

It found that 47% of Gen Z respondents said they are “excellent” with time management in general, compared to 33% of millennials, and only a quarter of Gen X (25%) and baby boomers (24%) ).

Interestingly, the study found that across generations, the ability to focus on what’s important was the top factor in helping with productivity (69%).

From there the generations have different opinions. Gen Z, Gen X and baby boomers reported that setting boundaries and saying “no” when they are unable to take on more work were next in importance. However, millennials prefer to use technology to keep themselves on track.

And this millennial enthusiasm for technology may be spreading. A significant proportion of small business owners (59%) introduced new technology this year, aiming to simplify tasks (62%), save time (59%) and improve their products or services (51%) .

“It’s encouraging to see small business owners — regardless of their age — embracing technology to increase productivity,” said DeLanghe. “To be successful in such a high-pressure role, it’s essential that entrepreneurs choose tools that seamlessly integrate and drive processes rather than complicating them. That will go a long way as they try to do more with less and less time.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 small business owners, evenly divided by generation; the survey was commissioned by Slack and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between June 28 and July 3.