LETTERS: Information overload haunts employees. The digital era, coupled with flexible working hours, has made some things easier and other things harder.
Surveys show that more than half of Malaysian employees are suffering from burnout due to workplace stress.
The feeling of "time poverty" induces panic and anxiety.
The nature of jobs takes away our attention from important tasks, lowering our productivity and creating a poor work-life balance.
This phenomenon is called "time confetti" as coined by American author Brigid Schulte. It refers to bits of time lost to unproductive multi-tasking.
A few minutes dedicated to menial tasks is not bad, but together they add up, affecting employees and companies' productivity.
The expectation of being productive 24/7 is one of the greatest lies of the 21st century, said Schulte.
We are not machines, frantically completing to-do lists.
A research study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that employees rank "meaning" in their day-to-day activities as the most important characteristic of work.
Having a sense of purpose at work can bring out the best in people.
Trivial tasks prevent us from being creative.
Cognitive scientists believe that our mind needs time to wander and settle for better decision-making.
Time confetti is linked to lower wellbeing.
Working hard is an admirable trait, but that does not mean it should be at the expense of our health.
Taking time off and blocking your time for things that are important to you are not optional, but essential as human beings.
DR SHEIKH ALI AZZRAN
Senior lecturer
Centre of Studies for Construction,
Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying,
Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, Selangor
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
