Workload! We work productively only 3 days a week!

It's a common crib among all of us that we are stressed out a lot and we slog like hell while what what we get is mere peanuts! Right? Wrong!

A global survey undertaken by none other than Microsoft states that workers average only three productive days per week!

Unclear objectives, lack of team communication and ineffective meetings are among the top time wasters that workers around the world say make them feel unproductive for as much as a third of their workweek on average, according to results of an online Microsoft Office survey.

Survey respondents also said that as they grapple with the need to work longer hours and the desire for better work-life balance, they rely heavily on technology tools to help optimise their personal and team productivity.

The Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge (PPC), which drew responses from more than 38,000 people in 200 countries, rated workers' individual productivity based on their responses to 18 statements about work-related practices.

People work an average of 45 hours a week; they consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive (U.S: 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive).

More than half the participants, 55 per cent, said they relate their productivity directly to their software (U.S.: 61 per cent). People spend 5.6 hours each week in meetings; 69 per cent feel meetings aren't productive (U.S.: 5.5 hours; 71 per cent feel meetings aren't productive).

Only 34 per cent said they are using proven scheduling tools and techniques to help them gain more free time and balance in their lives.

Likewise, 60 per cent said they don't have work-life balance, and being unproductive contributes to this feeling. (US: 31 per cent said they are using proven scheduling tools and techniques; 66 per cent said they don't have work-life balance.)

Women had an average productivity score of 72 per cent, compared with 71 per cent for men (US: women, 70 per cent; men, 68 per cent).

Workers said they receive an average of 42 e-mail messages per day (US: 56). The most common productivity pitfalls are unclear objectives, lack of team communication and ineffective meetings "" chosen by 32 per cent of respondents overall "" followed by unclear priorities at 31 per cent and procrastination at 29 per cent (US: procrastination, 42 per cent; lack of team communication, 39 per cent; ineffective meetings, 34 per cent).

Microsoft developed the PPC assessment as a way for workers to evaluate their work habits and receive tips on how to be more productive in their day-to-day activities.

Larry Baker, president of the Dr Larry Baker Management Center Incorporated in Atlanta and an associate professor at Shorter College in Marietta, Ga., developed the survey questions.

"In my three decades of studying what makes workers productive, I've found the most crucial skills are their ability to efficiently communicate across all kinds of boundaries, share important documents and manage the increasing volumes of information," said Lary Baker, president, Larry Baker Management Centre who was the lead in this survey.

"It's exciting to see that so many people around the world took the Personal Productivity Challenge and shared their feedback about the productivity issues they're facing today in the new world of work," said Chris Capossela, corporate vice president for the Information Worker Product Management Group at Microsoft.