While there are many benefits to open communication between employees, virtually and physically, there is also a cost: we experience more interruptions during the workday. One inquiry into workplace interruptions found that the average worker experiences seven interruptions per hour and about 80 percent of these interruptions were described as adding little or no value.

This means that many people are spending up to three hours per day dealing with low- or no-value interruptions. This seems to be true for GFOA members too. A poll we conducted showed that over a quarter of respondents rated interruptions as the most annoying source of lost time at work, making it the second most annoying source behind meetings.

Use the #TimeBackChallenge hashtag on social media to share the methods you use to improve workplace productivity.