Personal Insights, available in select plans, helps managers and employees understand individual work habits so they can make informed decisions that boost productivity and sustain results.
To access Personal Insights, navigate to Productivity Optimization > Personal Insights.
Note: Users' access to dashboards and features may vary based on account configuration. ActivTrak Admins can adjust access settings by assigning user roles and permissions.
Want to share Personal Insights with your employees? Subscribe to the report by following the instructions outlined here.
Watch the video below for a quick tour of Personal Insights, and read this article for additional details.
This dashboard utilizes Insights
This dashboard is powered by ActivTrak's Insights data, which processes and analyzes historical information with daily updates. For a complete explanation of how Insights differs from Live Data, see Understanding Live Data and Insights.
Contents
- Overview
- Summary Metrics, Daily View and Weekly Average
- Productive Time Breakdown (Focused vs. Collaboration & Multitasking Time)
- Work Balance & Wellness
- Technology Usage
Overview
The purpose of Personal Insights is to provide employees with insights into their work habits to improve their workplace experience and develop critical skills for personal growth. When you have visibility into your digital workday, you can make informed decisions that reduce fatigue, stress, and inefficiencies, leading to higher productivity and sustainable results.
Find out how to work wiser and develop healthy work habits with your Personal Insights, leveraging advice and best practices from our Productivity Lab.
If you have any questions about the information in your Personal Insights, reach out to your manager to discuss areas such as processes and technologies that enable you to work more efficiently without distractions.
| Key Questions | Considerations |
|---|---|
| How productive and focused am I throughout the day? | It is helpful to understand when we are most productive and focused throughout the day. Use this data to help plan your schedule and maximize energy levels to get more done. |
| How much time am I spending behind the screen? Am I being efficient? | Screen time, whether dedicated to work or personal activities, contributes to our energy depletion. Understanding Screen Time can allow us to make modifications to our behavior in order to be more efficient during the day. |
| How focused can I be on a daily basis? What’s causing distractions? | Focused time is critical for problem-solving, task completion, and individual strategy work. Use these insights to further understand optimal focused times and common distraction sources. |
| Am I proactively managing my workload to limit burnout? | Burnout is often recognized only after it hits. Routinely evaluating your work habits can help you recognize early on when you may need to take more breaks, shorten your day, or have a discussion with your manager about ways to modify your workload. |
| Where am I spending the majority of my time? | Understanding where the majority of your time is spent can shed light on where you may need additional training or support. Alternatively, these insights can demonstrate opportunities to automate work or reallocate it to other team members. |
Employees with an ActivTrak login can access their own Personal Insights from the Insights section of the left app navigation. Managers can easily share Personal Insights with team members by using the Subscribe button on the dashboard to schedule a daily, weekly, or monthly email.
Summary Metrics, Daily View and Weekly Average
To calculate these averages, ActivTrak divides your hours by the number of active days within the given time period. If you see averages that seem inaccurate, it may be because you need to configure the minimum threshold for what is considered an active day. Learn more here.
| Summary Metrics | The top row of the Personal Insights shows 7-day averages of four key metrics: Screen Time Hrs/Day, Productive Hrs/Day, Focused Hrs/Day and Collaboration Hrs/Day |
| Screen Time Hrs/Day | Understand the average number of hours spent behind the screen over the last 7 days. While screen time may not always equate to completing work-related tasks, this metric provides insight into work efficiency (Productive Time vs. Screen Time), and can help avoid fatigue and engagement. |
| Productive Hrs/Day | Understand your average productive hours per day over the last 7 days. Productive activities are categorized by each organization's administrator, and hours are calculated based on the time spent within these websites and applications. |
| Focused Hrs/Day | Within your business-related activities, you can assess the degree to which you are focused. Focused time is key for problem-solving, task completion, innovation, etc. This metric tracks work hours spent without collaboration or disruptions. |
| Collaboration Hrs/Day | Understand the average number of hours per day spent using digital collaboration tools like meeting software, chat and messaging. Collaboration Time, by definition, is not focused, although it is critical in every company. You can select the categories that are included in Collaboration Time from the Configuration page within the Insights tab in the left app navigation. |
| Team Benchmarks | Compare your average Screen Time, Productive Hours, Focused Hours, and Collaboration Hours against your team's metrics. Use the 'Team Benchmarks' filter at the top of the dashboard to select the team you want to compare to. (Teams displayed in this filter are limited to a user's Viewable Groups.) |
| Daily View | See a daily breakdown of how your time is distributed between Productive Time, Focused Time, and Collaboration Time over the last 7 days. This view can help you design a more balanced schedule (e.g., distributing meetings more evenly across the week or setting aside time each day for focused work). |
| Weekly Average | This view shows your average productivity and focused time over the course of the previous 4 weeks. It can help highlight the impact of events or changes in your routine over time. |
Productive Time Breakdown (Focused vs. Collaboration & Multitasking Time)
| Time Breakdown | See what percentage of productive time was spent focusing versus collaborating or multitasking. |
| Apps/Sites Affecting Focus | Review this chart to understand the applications and sites that commonly cause attention to shift away from a task. |
| Focused Session (mins) | Understand the average number of minutes spent without collaboration or disruptions. This number reflects the average duration of time you are able to maintain focus. |
| Focused vs. Collaboration & Multitasking by Hour of Day | Our optimal working times vary throughout the day. Knowing the ideal times to focus is helpful for planning activities such as meetings, brainstorming, and collaboration. Use the hourly breakdown view to understand when focused time is most achievable. |
Productivity Lab Guidance
ActivTrak’s Productivity Lab researches workplace productivity trends across people, processes and technology to empower teams to unlock their potential. Depending on your role, the composition of your work time will vary. People managers are likely to spend more time multitasking, while individual contributors are likely to spend more time engaged in focused activities. Regardless of role, the goal is to try to find the optimal balance throughout your day by understanding your work habits and underlying sources of attention shifts.
Focus Tips
- Block out time on your calendar as “Focus Time”
- Turn off/mute notifications during specific times
- Create plans at the start of each day to help you adhere to your objectives
- Set a timer (start with 20 minutes) and make it a goal to stay focused on a single task
- Set up a workplace free of distractions and other technologies
Work Balance & Wellness
| Your Work Habits | View key metrics over the last 30 days that could potentially contribute to health and wellness optimization. |
| Work Habits by Week | Burnout can often be the cumulative result of multiple weeks with strenuous work habits. View the variation over the last 30 days to understand whether the strain appears to be consistent or intermittent. |
Productivity Lab Guidance
Balance & Wellness Tips
- Recognize that there are many factors that contribute to feeling burnout
- Decrease Screen Time while optimizing productive time (productivity efficiency) to reduce strain and fatigue behind the computer
- Consider daily work habits (i.e., start/end times, efficiency, and break times) to better identify where you may need support from your team or manager
- Use this information as a foundation for discussions with your manager when you feel you’re at risk of fatigue, strain, or burnout
- Raise your hand in advance to get the support you need prior to reaching unhealthy work imbalance
Technology Usage
| Category Time Allocation | Category time allocation is likely to vary depending on the demands of each role. It is helpful to understand where the majority of time is being spent and assess whether those activities directly tie to key responsibilities. Evaluating the week-over-week change can also help you understand what may be causing the adoption or neglect of certain tools. |
Productivity Lab Guidance
Technology Tips
- Consider whether there are other applications available to help you meet your objectives in a more efficient way
- Evaluate when additional training may be required so that you can further leverage the technology available
- Assess whether time is being spent on the key activities aligned to your role