F-02 · Where the Week Goes
How much of the work day goes to coordinating work rather than doing it?
Between 53 and 61 percent, or roughly three of every five working hours. Four independent creators (Asana, McKinsey with IDC data, Microsoft and Workfront) land in that band, though each draws the line around coordination a little differently.
53–61% of working time, from 4 independent creators
- High confidence
- 9 primary sources
- 2012 to 2025
- Last checked
Every study on one scale
Shaded: 53–61% One figure
Chart values as text
- Scale: % of working time. Shaded range: 53–61%.
- Asana 2019 (2019): 60%
- Asana 2021 (2021): 60%
- Asana 2022 (2022): 58%
- Asana 2023 (2023): 58%
- Asana 2024 (2024): 53%
- Asana 2025 (2025): 55%
- McKinsey Global Institute (2012): 61%
- Microsoft (2024): 60% (observed)
- Workfront (2018): 60%
Why high confidence: Four independent creators using surveys, adjusted survey data and app usage data converge on 53 to 61 percent. Definitions differ, and three of the four are self-reported or vendor-built.
Sources
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anatomy of Work Index 2019 | Asana, survey by Sapio Research | 2019 | 10,223 knowledge workers in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US | Online survey, August to September 2019, self-reported. Asana sells work management software. | 60% work about work, 27% skilled work, 13% strategic work “The average knowledge worker devotes 60% of their time to work about work” | resources.asana.com ↗ |
| Anatomy of Work Index 2021 | Asana, survey by Sapio Research | 2021 | 13,123 knowledge workers in seven countries | Online survey, October 2020, self-reported | 60% work about work (France 66%) “knowledge workers continue to spend 60% of their day on work about work” | asana.com ↗ Archived copy ↗ Archived copy of the full 2021 report PDF. |
| Anatomy of Work Index 2022 | Asana, survey by GWI | 2022 | 10,624 knowledge workers in seven countries | Online survey, October 2021, self-reported | 58% work about work, 33% skilled work, 9% strategic work “individuals are dedicating 33% of their day to skilled work” | businesswire.com ↗ Archived copy ↗ |
| Anatomy of Work Global Index 2023 | Asana, survey by GWI | 2023 | 9,615 knowledge workers in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany and Japan | Online survey, November 2022, self-reported | 58% work about work | investors.asana.com ↗ Archived copy ↗ |
| State of Work Innovation 2024 | Asana Work Innovation Lab | 2024 | 13,066 knowledge workers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan and Australia | Online surveys, February to August 2024, self-reported. New label (busywork) and new survey panels. | 53% of time on busywork “more than half (53%) of workers' time is swallowed up by busywork” | asana.com ↗ |
| State of AI at Work 2025 | Asana Work Innovation Lab | 2025 | 9,236 knowledge workers in the US, UK, Germany, Japan and Australia | Online surveys, February to August 2025, self-reported | 55% of time on busywork “Knowledge workers spend 55% of their time on busywork” | asana.com ↗ |
| The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies | McKinsey Global Institute, using IDC survey data | 2012 | Managers and professionals in IDC's 2009 survey; sample size not stated | Re-analysis of IDC's self-reported time-use survey | 61% of the week outside role-specific work: 28% email, 19% searching, 14% internal communication | mckinsey.com ↗ Archived copy ↗ |
| 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report | Microsoft | 2024 | Anonymized usage data from commercial Microsoft 365 customers, 28 days to March 2024, outside the EU | App usage data, observed. Measures time inside Microsoft 365 apps only. | 60% of time in emails, chats and meetings; 40% in creation apps such as Word and PowerPoint “users spend 60% of their time on emails, chats, and meetings” | assets-c4akfrf5b4d3f4b7.z01.azurefd.net ↗ |
| 2019 US State of Work | Workfront, survey by Regina Corso Consulting | 2018 | 2,010 US office workers at companies with 500 or more staff | Online survey, June 2018, self-reported. Workfront sells work management software. | 40% of the workday on primary tasks, so 60% on everything else “U.S. workers say they spend only 40% of their workday on their primary tasks” | business.adobe.com ↗ Archived copy ↗ Workfront is now part of Adobe and no longer hosts the report; the archived copy is the original PDF. |
Is work about work going down?
Slightly, in Asana's series: 60% (2019), 60% (2021), 58% (2022), 58% (2023), then 53% (2024) and 55% (2025). From 2024 Asana relabeled it busywork and changed survey panels, so the last two years are not directly comparable. In 2019, respondents guessed they spent only 35% of their time on it.
Numbers you may have seen
These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.
- Asana 2024: 54% (or 60%) of time goes to work about work. Asana's 2024 report says 53% of time goes to busywork. The 54% in that report is the share of workers using AI at least monthly, and 60% comes from the 2019 and 2021 editions.
- Asana's 60% quoted as this year's figure. 60% is from the 2019 and 2021 editions. The latest figures are 53% (2024) and 55% (2025), under the new label busywork.
More from Where the Week Goes
- F-0119–25%How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend searching for information?
- F-033–18 hHow many hours a week do people spend in meetings, and how much of it is wasted?
- F-0420–26 minHow long does it take to get back to a task after an interruption?
- F-0513–28%How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend on email and chat?
- F-063–4 hHow much time do people lose switching between apps at work?
- F-074.6–5.7 hHow much time do people spend redoing work that already exists?
The whole chapter · Chapter poster · All of The AI at Work Fact Book