According to new workplace productivity data from Microsoft, workers spend two workdays of their time each week on email and in meetings. Especially since the pandemic, time spent communicating online has been on the rise. As a result, many workers feel as though these digital workplace communication tools have actually distracted them from their work and interfered with their productivity, rather than improved their efficiency. Other workplace studies have also reflected the presence of digital overload in the office, and how both managers and employees have become frustrated with the volume of communication expected in addition to their job roles.
See "Digital overload and increased time spent communicating online has left many workers feeling unproductive in their actual job tasks", Ray A. Smith, Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2023