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Productivity & teamwork

How to Calculate Idle Time & Mitigate Non-Productive Employee Hours

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It’s time we talk about something we all love to hate: idle time.

You know, that period when your employees are just sitting there, doing absolutely nothing, except thinking what the cheapest flight to Argentina is or contemplating their life choices.

That’s idle time: a land of wasted work minutes and vivid imagination.

If you think about it, there’s nothing to hate about idle time; we all fall into idleness from time to time to help us cope with numerous responsibilities, (unrealistic) expectations, and the pressure to be constantly “on”.

I consider idle time as hitting the “Pause” button in life; we all need a moment to catch our breath sometimes.

But when 5-minute idleness to recharge our batteries turns into a full-blown brain vacation, it starts to eat our productive time. It becomes a productivity paradox; instead of increasing it, it’s slowing us down.

The goal of this article is not to shame anyone for having idle time. I’m here to figure out how much time is acceptable to be “unproductive” and how to keep it in check so that breaks, no matter how frequent they are, don't turn into wasted time.

Also, let’s see how you can calculate employee idle time and manage those unproductive employee hours.


Idle time as a productivity paradox

What is idle time?

Idle time is a period when employees or equipment are being unproductive or “waiting”. This lack of productivity could be caused by multiple factors, many of which could be controlled but are simply not.

To give you an example, idle time can happen because a part of a machine isn’t working or when there’s no Internet connection so your employees can’t complete their usual tasks.

Some level of idle time is inevitable. After all, humans don’t act as productive robots, and pieces of equipment tend to break down.

There are three main types of idle time:

  1. Employee idle time, when employees are engaged in non-work-related activities (like scrolling their social media).
  2. Machine idle time suggests an issue with company equipment, like a breakdown so the machine can't operate as usual until repairs or maintenance are completed.
  3. Computer idle time refers to minutes (or hours) when employees are not using their computers.
💡 Employee idle time vs. employee downtime

These terms sound similar and are often used interchangeably, but they’re not exactly the same.

Idle time refers to periods when employees are not actively working on tasks but are still present and expected to be available for work.

Downtime typically refers to periods when employees can’t work due to external circumstances like system failures, or equipment breakdowns, meaning they simply can’t perform their tasks.

Idle time and downtime result in lost productivity, but downtime suggests a much bigger issue needs to be handled. Idle time could be considered as just a temporary, short gap in the workday.

Why should you calculate idle time at work?

Simply put, because each minute that your employee is idle is a lost minute of productivity, which suggests there is a potential revenue loss. However, the goal isn’t to eliminate idle time entirely—it’s to be mindful of it and understand its role in the workplace.

Just take the construction industry as an example. There, idle time is wildly detrimental. 

According to myComly, this sector loses approximately $1.6 trillion globally each year due to idle time. Yikes!

That being said, I want to remind you that the purpose of time tracking is not to micromanage or control your employees but to understand project margins and improve your company’s efficiency.

Business growth and profitability

Time tracking allows you to see how resources are allocated and whether the time spent on various tasks aligns with project goals and budgets. It’s a tool for understanding the true costs of your operations, and identifying bottlenecks.

For example, tracking time can reveal if particular tasks are taking longer than expected, allowing you to spot inefficiencies and see if additional resources, or technology might help speed them up. It even helps fixed-price projects remain profitable by giving a clear picture of the time required for each deliverable.

Our CMO, Niclas Preisner, in his latest 4-chapter course explained this in detail.

And luckily for you, the 30% method course is still available. 🆓 💻

If you want to learn how to achieve a 30% net profit in your business by optimizing just 3 metrics, you have to watch it.

The course is less than an hour and a half long and provides you with:

  • A plan to measure and improve profitability.
  • Clear metrics and benchmarks to achieve 30% net profit.
  • A checklist you can use for process improvement.
  • A template and a guide on how to do profitability reporting as a team.
Slide from the 30% method course

You don’t have to watch the course all at once; go through the chapters that interest you the most. Niclas truly goes into detail in each chapter, breaking down profitability aspects into actionable steps.

How to calculate idle time

Idle time formula is pretty simple. It suggests a difference between the time an employee or an asset should work and the actual number of hours worked.

Idle Time = Planned Productive Time – Actual Productive Time

Here’s an example.

Let’s say that your employee used a time tracking app to track their work hours and discovered that while they work for 8 hours in theory, in reality, their time tracking platform suggested they’ve been productive for only 6 hours and 20 minutes, meaning they had 1 hour and 40 minutes of idle time.

The amount of idle time makes your eye twitch a bit, doesn’t it?

Don’t be like that! The goal is not to reduce your employees’ idle time to zero; that is impossible.

Employees need breaks.

Those breaks allow them to cool off, decompress, and recharge so they can continue working effectively. Moments of rest help them return to their tasks with improved focus. In fact, studies, like the Productivity and Innovation: The Power of Taking Breaks and Deliberate Rest, show that regular breaks can improve productivity, creativity, and even job satisfaction.

It all suggests that when breaks are intentional, they’re not idle; they’re investments in improved productivity and performance.

I would even go as far as to say you can differentiate two types of idle time:

  1. Productive idle time and
  2. Avoidable idle time.

Productive idle time happens when employees pause to reflect, strategize, or recharge.

Avoidable idleness is a result of poor task management, unclear communication, or inefficiencies in the workflow.

Common causes of idle time

Idle time can be caused by dozens of factors, such as technical issues (like no Internet connection), delays in information flow (like waiting for feedback or approvals), equipment malfunctions, lack of tasks, overstaffing, unclear priorities, you name it.

Here are the most common causes of idle time:

  1. Malfunctioning equipment that could be a result of materials running out or power outages. These situations can quickly be fixed with a proper equipment maintenance plan.
  2. The system shuts down, and it’s outside of your company’s control. To avoid these situations, you should have a detailed troubleshooting guide and processes.
  3. Natural disasters, like hurricanes, tornadoes, and other storms. You can’t control the weather, but your company should be somewhat prepared for these situations if they happen frequently.
  4. Employees’ inefficiencies include needing time to adjust to projects and clients (for new hires), trying to learn as much as possible while transitioning to different roles or departments etc. That’s why you need to ensure all processes are clear and that documentation is available to employees.
  5. Employees’ personal events (like maternity leave, time for moving, taking time off for their honeymoon, etc.) that can be predicted. Such events can take a toll on an entire team’s productivity. The only thing you can do is help the rest of your staff adjust to the changes, by helping them manage additional workload and new priorities.
An employee having additional workload and change in priorities

Causes of employee idle time

Employees can be stuck in idleness for various reasons, including:

  • They have just a couple of tasks to complete that don’t keep them busy during their 8-hour work shift. If that’s the case, there's an imbalance in how tasks are assigned, so you need to learn how to distribute workloads cross-team more effectively, and prioritize tasks better.
  • They experience equipment downtime like their computers not working due to maintenance or repairs. In such situations, employees are asked to wait until the issue is resolved, and there’s not much you can do to fix these unproductive periods.
  • Their work depends on someone else's feedback or approval. Delays in feedback can cause waiting periods. To ensure this doesn’t happen often, you can give more autonomy to your employees or streamline approval process and communication (using Slack or Microsoft Teams).
  • Employees don’t know how to manage work hours and breaks, so even when they are working, they are not as engaged in productive work.

Calculate idle time using time tracking software

Technically speaking, there are two ways to do idle time calculation:

  1. You (and your employees) can do so manually, with a start/stop timer and the above mentioned idle time formula.
  2. You can use time tracking software that automatically captures your employees’ activity and inactivity so they can quickly spot their idle or offline time.

The second option is probably more optimal as you get precise data without having to do manual calculations for each workday. Time tracking software eliminates guesswork and ensures you don’t miss any details about when and for how long idle time occurs.

With automated tools, you can:

  • View your activity timeline and spot when you are the most active and when you’re idle.
  • Identify idle patterns.
  • Save time analyzing work and productivity patterns and make more time for actual improvements.
Using a time tracking app

Choose Memtime as your idle time accountability partner

As I mentioned before, idle time happens, and the goal is not to eliminate it but to keep it in check so it doesn’t result in major productivity and profits loss.

You can keep it in check with Memtime.

Our tool can be your idle time accountability partner because it’s designed to keep you informed and improve your efficiency.

Here’s why Memtime can do for you in terms of idle time:

  • Memtime works quietly in the background, automatically capturing your activity in programs and browsers, so you don’t have to use a start/stop timer.
Memtime capturing activity in programs
  • There are no timers or alerts to set and no interruptions; just stress-free, laid-back time tracking (our app’s mascot is a sloth, after all 🦥).
  • You can turn captured activities into time entries on tasks and projects.
  • You can sync Memtime with your favorite project management tools to streamline task and project tracking.
  • Memtime doesn’t particularly measure idle time; it shows “Offline time”. Once offline time has been detected, you can rename it or delete it from your private timeline. Your manager can’t see this.
  • Within Memtime’s Productivity report, you get valuable insights by comparing the total time you spend on your device (with all tracked activities), to the time you actually spent working.
  • With Memtime, your data stays on your device, ensuring your insights are secure and confidential, only visible to you. All users can download Memtime reports and email them to their superiors if needed.

Sounds like an app you might enjoy?

Don’t question it, try it. For free, two weeks. Just click the button below.

Wrapping up

Employee idle time happens. But instead of stressing over every minute, focus on keeping it in check.

Small breaks can boost productivity, but when idleness goes unchecked, it can hurt the bottom line.

So, allow your employees to track it, manage it; your only job is to not sweat it. With the right tools like Memtime, your employees will spot idle time without the stress and keep things running smoothly.

Aleksandra Doknic
Aleksandra Doknic

Aleksandra Doknic is a copywriter and content writer with six years of experience in B2B SaaS and e-commerce marketing. She's a startup enthusiast specializing in topics ranging from technology and gaming to business and finance. Outside of work, Aleksandra can be found walking barefoot in nature, baking muffins, or jotting down poems.

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