June 17, 2025
Do you feel more tired more often than usual?
Do you have a sense that you’re working too many hours (even on the weekends)?
Do you feel that you may be neglecting both your health and your family?
What follows are some excerpts from a survey done with those who use Microsoft 365. The link to the entire article is at the top.
“Our research, based on trillions of globally aggregated and anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity signals, reveals a challenging new roadblock: a seemingly infinite workday.
Our telemetry data shows that, on average, employees using Microsoft 365 are interrupted every 2 minutes by a meeting, email, or notification.
In fact, our global Work Trend Index survey shows that nearly half of employees (48%)—and more than half of leaders (52%)—say their work feels chaotic and fragmented.
For many, the workday now feels like navigating chaos—reacting to others’ priorities and losing focus on what matters most. In a time when every hour counts, that drift could quietly drain energy and stall business progress.
Our telemetry data shows that meetings after 8 pm are up 16% year over year, with global and flexible teams accounting for much of the increase. And it’s not just meetings: the average employee now sends or receives more than 50 messages outside of core business hours, and by 10 pm, nearly a third (29%) of active workers dive back into their inboxes, pointing to a steady rise in after-hours activity.
Our telemetry data shows a notable bump in weekend email usage. Nearly 20% of employees actively working on the weekend are checking their email before noon on Saturday and Sunday—waking up to work, even on typical days off. And over 5% are back in email on Sunday evenings (6 pm and later)—the Sunday scaries are real and measurable.
Interruptions:
Employees are interrupted every two minutes during core work hours—275 times a day—by meetings, emails, or chats. Calculated as a rolling 28-day sum of pings (meeting invites, emails, chats) per unique user per workday. The two-minute figure reflects the average time between pings during an eight-hour workday. The 275 is based on the 24-hour day. Based on the top 20% of users by ping volume received.
Last-Minute PowerPoint Edits:
Edits in PowerPoint spike 122% in the final 10 minutes before a meeting. Calculated as a rolling 28-day sum of PowerPoint view and edit actions per meeting participant, measured across fixed time windows before meetings.
Ad Hoc Meetings:
60% of meetings are unscheduled or ad hoc. Based on a rolling 28-day volume of unique meetings per user per workday. Represents the top 20% of users by meeting volume.
After-Hours Chats:
Chats sent outside the standard 9-to-5 workday are up 15% year over year, with an average of 58 messages per user now arriving before or after hours. Calculated as a rolling 28-day sum of chats sent outside of Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm
Late-Night Meetings & Cross–Time Zone Work:
Meetings starting after 8 pm are up 16% year over year, driven by an increase in cross–time zone collaboration. 30% of meetings now span multiple time zones—a figure that has risen 8 percentage points since 2021. Measured as a rolling 28-day sum of meetings starting between 8 pm and 11:59 pm, adjusted for each participant’s local time.”
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