Kensington Survey: Mobile Devices Increase Productivity, Working Hours

A new study by physical security provider Kensington suggests improvements in mobile productivity have lead to an increase, not a decrease, in working hours for the average employee.

Kensington’s Productivity Trends Report 2015 surveyed more than 3,400 customers across the United States, United Kindgom and Australia in February. The study found that despite productivity increases brought about by the inception of the iPad and other mobile devices, 35 percent of respondents work longer hours now than they did five years ago. Kensington’s findings seem to indicate that despite a greater ease of access to their work than before, many workers actually have additional responsibilities due to their increased access to email via their smartphones and tablets.

The study also showed some interesting changes in the way employees spend their working hours. According to Kensington, 21 percent of respondents preferred to work from home rather than the office, with 48 percent saying they were less productive when commuting to work. Additionally, 40 percent of respondents said they check their email within 15 minutes of waking up, and an additional 21 percent check emails while in bed at the end of the day. And even though most respondents still spend more time working from their office than they do at home, the amount of time employees spend working outside of their office continues to increase since 2010.

Kensington’s study may seem initially surprising, but it makes perfect sense that people are spending additional time checking email and working away from their desks than before. Just think about how many time the average person spends looking down at his or her phone throughout the day and you’ll get the idea – yes, some of it may be spend on Facebook or playing Angry Birds, but most people tend to check their email excessively as well.

So what can be done to prevent the mobile worker from obsessing over emails even after punching out for the day? Learning to limit the time spent checking and responding to email is one popular solution, which includes only checking your email at specific times throughout the day. Other popular solutions include keeping your smartphone in another room when you sleep, or leaving it elsewhere when you go to dinner.

No matter which method works for you, learning how to wean yourself from your device of choice is an important lesson in learning how to relax so you can get back to spending time with family, sleeping and recharging for the next day.