Overview

• Employees receive an average of 117 emails and 153 Teams messages per day, resulting in roughly 275 interruptions and just two minutes of uninterrupted focus.
• Meetings after 8 p.m. are up 16% year-over-year, with 40% of workers logging on by 6 a.m. and nearly a third returning to their inboxes around 10 p.m.
• One in three employees say the pace of work over the past five years has become impossible to keep up with, and about 20% report checking emails before noon on weekends.
• Microsoft’s report highlights AI’s ability to automate low-value tasks but warns that without reimagined processes it could accelerate the endless work cycle.
• Advisers urge leaders to protect peak focus hours, enforce clear meeting protocols and reshape organizational structures to restore healthy work rhythms.