Billions lost to fixation on phones

“I would be terrified if we quantified the loss” DR KRISTY GOODWIN

AUSTRALIAN workers are costing the economy and their employers billions of dollars each year in lost productivity due to an addiction to smartphones and social media.

The Sunday Territorian can reveal the first research that shows the extent to which adults say they are checking their social media and smartphones during working hours.

A third of Aussies say they “regularly get distracted by their smartphone or social media at work” with 42 per cent checking it up to seven times a day during working hours.

A further 5.2 per cent admit to being distracted by their device more than 15 times a day.

Of those checking their phone or social media at work, 92 per cent are spending up to 90 minutes of work time scrolling their feed or replying to messages.

Research has shown for every period of distraction, it takes a further 23 minutes to return to the same level of concentration. So 90 minutes of self-reported social media scrolling could actually amount to more than that in lost productivity.

A total of 52 per cent of all employees who admitted to checking their phone during work hours said if they were happier in their jobs they’d be less likely to be digitally distracted.

More than 1000 Australians aged 18 and over in all states and territories were surveyed for the research, conducted last month.

The findings coincide with digital media experts being called in to conduct seminars at many major workplaces to try and combat this worrying trend of the digital drain.

One expert, Dr Kristy Goodwin, said her business in this area had increased 80 per cent on this time last year.

Dr Goodwin said the findings were shocking but, given they relied on self-reporting, the figures and time wasted on smartphones or social media during the day was likely to be higher in reality.

“People definitely may be conservative in estimating how much time they’re actually being digitally distracted during work hours,” Dr Goodwin said.

“I would be terrified if we quantified the loss. It would be in the billions.”