For many workers, repetitive tasks like entering data into spreadsheets can be a nuisance. In fact, in a 2021 survey, 94% of American workers said they perform time-consuming, repetitive tasks in their roles. And 65% say they're less stressed after they're able to automate these tasks.
Recently, one woman shared how she barely does any work after automating 90% of her daily tasks. Now she is wondering whether she should fess up to her boss about slacking off for most of the day or just accept it and spend the time doing something she likes.
A woman automated 90% of her daily tasks at work and now only works 4-6 hours a week
Image credits: ThisIsEngineering / Pexels (not the actual photo)
With so much time on her hands, she started wondering whether she should confess to her boss or use the time for hobbies and training
Image credits: Polina Zimmerman / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: IroningBoardAgainstTheWall
Image credits: Alex Kotliarskyi / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Only some companies have results-only work environments
Finishing all tasks at work early is a pretty good problem to have considering the alternative. Not many employees can say they have loads of free time; in fact, according to the American Time Use Survey, those who work from the office spend around 7.9 hours working. Those who work from home say they do it only for 5.1 hours.
But what does that mean, exactly? Do people spend these hours on their actual tasks? It appears that they don't, as according to a 2016 study, most workers spend only 39% of their workdays doing their actual jobs. What do they do for the remaining 61%? Emails, meetings, and busywork, such as writing progress reports for managers.
There are two types of companies when it comes to this issue. Some companies operate on the results-only model. They don't really care if an employee finishes all their tasks early, all they care is about if they get the job done. Some examples include Zappos, Best Buy, some government agencies, and even Google, which previously allowed employees to take one personal day a week for personal company-related innovation projects.
Other workplaces are more traditional. They want employees to be as efficient and productive during their work hours as possible. While companies that are results-only would perhaps tolerate a worker going home early after finishing all tasks, these types of workplaces might frown upon it.
Career and business strategist Ellen Fondiler says that an employee's best bet in that situation is to be honest with their boss about the extra time and suggest working on projects that they want.
"That way, you won't be frittering away your time on Facebook, feeling guilty for pretending to work, or feeling resentful and bored," Fondiler writes. "You'll have a juicy project to dig into — one that will help you to stay engaged and excited about your work, build new skills and add more value to the company."
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Technology will help employees but won't push them out of jobs entirely
Some people perceive workplace automation as evil: many of us perhaps still believe that it has to do with robots taking over the world and people losing jobs. But experts are pointing out that automation is more about software that helps workers with dull, repetitive tasks.
"When you find something you do more than once that adds value … you want to look into automation," Fred Townes, formerly the chief product officer at READY Education, explains.
He says that the development of cloud-based tools made automation more accessible even to the smallest of companies, whereas before, it required expensive servers and a team of professionals to maintain them.
Automation has indeed contributed to the decrease in wages for workers. Since 1980, men without high school degrees are earning 8.8% less and women without high school degrees are earning 2.3% less. Workplace automation is also slowly driving income inequality.
Yet that doesn't mean that machines and AI will take over our jobs entirely. "Technology does not purge the need for human labor but rather changes the type of labor required," senior research associate at Harvard Law School Ashley Nunes writes. "Autonomous does not mean humanless. Technology can and will fail."
The woman explained the particulars of her job in the comments
Reactions from people varied; some thought she should be working contracted hours, others urged her not to tell her boss: "You've found a more efficient way to work"
