More than half (58%) of all HR professionals suffer between five and 20 interruptions per day when working in the office.

Almost a fifth (17%) complain of more than 20 daily interruptions; the figures are dramatically reduced to only 17% of HR professionals who endure just five to ten daily interruptions when working from home.

The research also suggests that the quieter the home working environment the more work gets achieved, 67% of HR professionals feel they are up to 75% more productive when working from home.

The news marks National Working from Home Week, 10-16 January 2005, sponsored by business technology manufacturer, Brother UK Ltd.

Brother’s research also found that 96% of personnel professionals believe they are less stressed; more motivated and manage their time more effectively when working from home.

Other key findings:

• The majority (83%) of those in HR would prefer to work from home more often – citing productivity, lack of distractions and reduced stress as key influencers in their decision.




• Most work longer hours at home, thus increasing their productivity – 8% of those in the HR sector work between 10-12 hour days when in the office in contrast to 29% of those working at home.




• Half (50%) feel they waste between two and four hours every day on non-productive work when in the office e.g. travel time, chatting with colleagues.




• A third of HR workers (33%) prefer to shun the traditional 9am-5pm routine with almost a fifth (17%) preferring to enjoy a leisurely morning and start grafting from noon onwards.




• The majority (63%) would turn down a more highly paid job in favour of the flexibility of working from home and 63% say that the opportunity to work from home is one of the key factors in them choosing an employer.




• HR professionals cite the most productivity-affecting, irritating daily interruptions as mobile phone ring tones (38%) and noisy colleagues (33%). However, ‘pings’ of emails arriving and outside traffic noise also distracts 4% of those in HR.

Psychologist, Dr David Lewis commented: “Certain noises distract different people – some sounds are so unbearable, it can take us up to four times as long as the interruption itself to return our mind to the task at hand. So an interruption lasting no more than five minutes may well put you back by up to 20 minutes. The more complex and intellectually demanding the activity, the loss to productivity can be even greater.”

“Interruptions may also affect the quality of our ideas so that once the train of thought is derailed, it may not return to its previous high level of functioning for hours or even forever.”

Mike Dinsdale, Communications Director, Brother said: “It’s important to achieve the right balance – certain personalities thrive in a loud, busy office environment while others need a peaceful, soothing relaxed home atmosphere, to maximise their creativity.

“Our research shows that offering home working can reap rewards for all businesses – overall home based workers are 56% more productive and 25% more creatively inspired each day in contrast to their office based colleagues.”

Brother quizzed 1800 UK home and office workers for the research and monitored the psychological and health effects of home and office working for 50 workers.