Latest news with #2025:TheYeartheFrontierFirmIsBorn
CNBC
19-05-2025
- CNBC
9-to-5 employees are interrupted every 2 minutes by meetings, emails and other pings, says Microsoft—how to focus
The workday is full of distractions. In fact, during the 9-to-5, employees are interrupted every two minutes by meetings, emails and other pings, according to Microsoft's recent report 2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born. And this "isn't taking into account if you have WhatsApp open or if you have Spotify or YouTube open," says Alexia Cambon, senior research director at Microsoft. "Those are additional signals that are probably also adding to the disruptions." If you feel like constant distractions are getting in the way of you actually doing your job, there are methods to ensure you have dedicated quiet time to get things done. Here's what experts recommend. There are several ways to create protected blocks of time in which to do work. First, "determine when you're most productive," says Monster career expert Vicki Salemi. Is it "30 minutes mid-morning or right before lunch?" Figure out when it's beneficial to have those specific windows. Then, "schedule blocks of time on your calendar and treat it like an important meeting," she says. "Don't blow it off." You can even set an alarm on your phone or computer to alert you to when it's time to buckle down uninterrupted. Think, too, about where you'll be most productive. "Is it a quiet room at work?" says Salemi, "in your cubicle or office while listening to music?" Then, set aside your phone, close your email and turn off notifications. And "if you're working from home," she says, "tell everyone in your household you're in an important meeting." You can create blocks of quiet time as short as 20 minutes. When you're figuring out how to focus during the day, remember that "sometimes quiet time doesn't take place in front of a desk," says Salemi. "You might have an a-ha moment while going for a power walk," for example. Cambon uses a similar tactic to ensure she has some focused moments. During the workday, "I have this standing 45-minute run on my diary every day that I obey religiously," she says, "not just for my mental health and for my clarity, but honestly, it's the place I get my best ideas." Before she leaves, she lets her team know, "guys, I'm taking 45 minutes for a run, please do the same," she says. "It's important to see it role modeled up top that this is something that is permissible." However you block off time, the point is to focus on identifying noise "throughout our day and aim to minimize it so it doesn't manage us," says Salemi.
CNBC
28-04-2025
- Business
- CNBC
17% of employees who use AI at work do so to avoid co-worker judgment: But workplace connection 'is a key to finding happiness'
As AI becomes more advanced and prolific in the workplace, employees find new ways to use it to improve their performance. In Microsoft's recent 2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born report, the company wanted to get a sense of how people use AI in the workplace. Among their questions for the 31,000 workers across 31 countries they surveyed was, "in the past year, which tasks have you relied more on AI for than a human colleague?" says Alexia Cambon, senior research director at Microsoft. They found workers turn to AI more often than people for help with information search, data analysis, brainstorming and creative thinking. Microsoft's follow up question was "why?" says Cambon. While many choose the tech for its 24/7 availability and its "endless stream of ideas on demand," some turn to it for more emotional reasons. Nearly a fifth, 17% of people working on the aforementioned tasks turn to AI more than a colleague for "fear of human judgment," Microsoft found. Happiness expert and TEDx speaker Jessica Weiss is not surprised that for some people, AI "starts to become a stand-in for human connection. But oftentimes and unfortunately, it's not for the better." Here's why she believes people are leaning into AI in this way and how to avoid doing it. Human interaction can be nerve wracking — especially in the workplace, which has its own unique culture. "I think that we're all plagued with social awkwardness," says Weiss. The pandemic only compounded that, she says, and even though it's been five years, "I do feel there's a bit of that social anxiety hangover." So it's no wonder people are afraid of being judged. But it's critical to interact with people, even in the workplace. "Connection and friendship at work is a key to finding happiness and satisfaction at work," she says. Try to have "just one interaction, just one conversation, just one collaboration" at work, regardless of how hard it is, says Weiss. It makes "a huge difference" for your well-being. And AI can help with this. "Use AI to kind of grease the wheels of collaboration," she says, "but not to replace collaboration." Turn to your generative AI tool of choice, for example, to ask it how to start work conversations that make you a bit nervous to. Or use it to generate ideas before a brainstorm that can give your team a foundation to build their next product on. AI can be a great tool, but the point is to "use AI to improve connections at work," says Weiss, not replace them.
