Apps are going to help. But these days, they will not keep quiet.
Whether it’s a Slack ping, a Zoom call, a calendar pop-up, or just another tab for a fifth tool that does basically the same thing as the last one, teams are drowning in digital clutter. And while some of that chaos looks productive on the surface, the reality is different. It is tiring.
A new report from Localize shows just how deep the problem runs. Based on a survey of 1,000 American workers, the study shows what many already feel: Modern work tools are making real work harder.
When productivity tools hurt productivity
According to the report, context switching is one of the biggest hidden drains on productivity. Employees toggle between apps an average of 33 times per day. Some? More than 100. That constant jumping is not only annoying, but it also breaks focus.
More than half of those surveyed (56%) said equipment overload impacts their performance every week. Another 22% said they waste more than two hours per week managing their stack.
Let’s do the math. On average, workers lose approximately 51 minutes weekly due to inefficient equipment. This adds up to 44 hours per year, which is more than an entire work week spent juggling tabs and chasing clarity.
What is happening at this time?
Some devices are worse offenders than others. When asked who wastes the most time:
- Outlook leads the pack with 35%
- Microsoft Teams followed by 29%
- Gmail clocked at 24%
- Zoom down to 15%
- Slack finished it at 9%
Is it surprising? Probably not. Communication equipment heads the list. But it’s not just the tools themselves, it’s how they are used. Threaded chat. Duplicate messages. Unclear email chains. Nonstop alert.
And when you break it down by type:
- Email: 43 minutes lost/week
- Chat Tool: 39 minutes
- Video call: 37 minutes
- CRM/Support Platform: 36-37 minutes
- Design, file storage and PM tools: about 30 minutes each
Even AI tools that are supposed to help have added 25+ minutes of wasted time per week.
Human cost of lots of equipment
Its impact goes far beyond lost hours. People get tired of constant switching.
60% of employees said device fatigue is impacting their ability to collaborate. More than a third (36%) said it was harming their mental health and work-life balance. Technology designed to make work easier? This is now a source of stress.
And redundancy doesn’t help.
More than half of employees (55%) said they have multiple apps that do the same thing. And 79% said their employer did nothing to downsize or consolidate them.
In other words, the people are overloaded and the leadership is sleeping.
Multitasking is a myth (and we’re proving it daily)
The psychological impact is real. The human brain is not designed to bounce between tasks without stopping. Each ping or pop-up resets your focus clock. It may take more than 20 minutes to regain full concentration after an interruption.
Now multiply this by 33 app switches per day.
It’s not about laziness or distraction. It’s about systems that work against the people inside them. When teams can’t get into a state of flow, they can’t do their best work. They are fighting fire. Juggling. Reacting rather than creating.
Tool bloat also kills collaboration
The Localize report found clear impacts across three categories:
- team work: 14% said tools actually made collaboration worse.
- welfare: 36% said that their stress has increased due to tool overload.
- Production: 26% said devices have reduced their productivity.
And even among the 45% who said the devices helped with productivity, many acknowledged the benefits were uneven. When tools aren’t aligned or well-integrated, people use them inconsistently, leading to more confusion, not less.
Redundancy = confusion = lost time
You have received an email. And chat. And channel. And tickets. And work. And meetings to talk about tickets and tasks. Half the time, people don’t even know what tool to use for what.
This type of overlap leads to:
- decision paralysis:Should I send this via Slack or email?
- messages lost:Where did that update go?
- inconsistent workflow: Every team works differently
In fast-paced organizations, that chaos is magnified. Teams reinvent the wheel every day. Knowledge becomes calm. Process section. People spend hours looking for information that should be easy to find.
Which industries have it the worst?
While everyone is dealing with equipment overload, some industries report even greater fatigue:
- technology: Rapid device adoption = big headache
- Health care: Clunky Systems + Compliance Challenges
- finance: Layers of tools for privacy and security
- hospitality:High turnover = poor onboarding
- logistics: New technology based on legacy systems
The problem isn’t just the number of devices, it’s how they work (or don’t) work together.
Why aren’t leaders fixing this?
Nearly 80% of respondents said their company has not taken steps to address equipment fatigue. Some reasons why:
- no one owns the pile
- Leaders don’t feel the same friction that frontline teams feel
- Changing platform seems risky
- There is no system to track digital attrition
And honestly? Most companies confuse “more tools” with “more productivity.” But this equation only works when those tools are well-planned and strategically chosen. Now, this rarely happens.
What can companies actually do about it
The solution to the problem is not simply to destroy the equipment. It’s about being more intentional. Here’s where to start:
- audit the stack:What do we have? What overlaps?
- listen to your teams:What’s working? What is not?
- kill redundancies: Choose one device per task
- Improve onboarding: Make it clear how and when to use each app
- create habits: Create shared standards between teams
- Check usage metrics:Are people using what you think?
And most importantly: Ask people what is slowing them down. The answers are probably in your Slack history.
Final Thoughts: Productivity Isn’t About Tools, It’s About Flow
Digital devices aren’t going anywhere. But unless companies get serious about cleaning up their tech clutter, things will only get worse.
The Localize report makes it clear: Workers aren’t just wasting time because of poor systems. They are losing energy, momentum and job satisfaction.
Fixing this starts with a change in mindset. Productivity doesn’t come from piling on more apps. This comes from giving people the space to focus on real work without having to open 15 tabs to do it.
Read further:
• How tech glitches quietly kill American developer productivity
Cornell study finds AI misreads disability hate across cultures and South Asian languages
• 11 examples of annoying work terminology (and what to say instead)