63% Indian professionals maintains to-do list: LinkedIn Study

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with 161 million members worldwide and over 14 million in India, today released data about professionals and their daily to-do lists. The study examined how professionals in different industries tackle tasks planned for a given workday; the differences between men and women’s to-do list habits; and global insights on where professionals keep to-do lists and what gets in the way of completing them. 

 

LinkedIn surveyed more than 6,500 professionals globally and over 400 in India. The study revealed that among the countries in which the survey was conducted, India ranked sixth in maintaining to-do lists. Out of the Indian professionals that were surveyed, 63 percent reported that they frequently keep a to-do list. This matches the global average, as 63 percent of all survey respondents reported that they frequently keep a to-do list. Globally, seventy-one percent of women say they frequently keep to-do lists. Only 60 percent of men say they frequently keep to-do lists.

 

In India, 45 percent of respondents said that they jot down their to-do lists by hand, while 48 percent said they create them electronically. Globally however 50 percent of those who jot down to-do lists do so by hand, while 45 percent create them electronically. The remaining five percent reported storing their lists in alternative places, like “In my mind only,” “Piles of files,” or other locations like whiteboards or chalkboards.

 

The study showed that the likelihood that a professional will complete their to-do list varied by industry. Globally, professionals in agriculture claim to be the most productive, with 83 percent of agriculture professionals stating they regularly fulfill most or all of their planned tasks. Professionals in the legal industry had the lowest completion rate on their daily plans, with 66 percent of respondents accomplishing most or all tasks.

 

Art industry professionals (40 percent) agreed the most with this statement, "I tend to be distracted easily." Agriculture industry professionals agreed the least with that statement; only 18 percent of professionals in the agriculture industry are easily distracted.

 

When it comes to checking the boxes on their to-do lists, only 11 percent of professionals globally reported accomplishing all of the tasks they plan to do in a given workday. Survey respondents pointed to unplanned tasks (such as unscheduled phone calls, emails and meetings) as primary cause for not completing all items on their to-do lists. In India, forty-five percent of professionals reported splitting their workday equally between planned and unplanned tasks. At 38 percent, India had the fourth-highest percentage of survey respondents who spent most of their day on planned tasks.

 

 

“As professionals, we constantly attempt to plan our day at work in the most effective manner. While surprise phone calls, meetings and other unplanned tasks usually make it difficult to adhere to a to-do list, professionals can rely on the intelligence gathered on LinkedIn to work smarter,” said Hari V. Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India. “Individuals from every industry can benefit from LinkedIn’s simplified solutions to achieve work-goals while being time-efficient. Even while on the move, professionals can use LinkedIn’s mobile applications to strike off tasks from their to-do-lists,”

 

Follow these “to-dos” to save time in your workday and cross more tasks off the list:

 

Check out meeting participants’ LinkedIn Profiles ahead of time to get a sense for what they bring to the table. Past experience and specific skills of your meeting cohorts could come in handy to creatively solve a problem — thereby keeping your meeting time to a minimum.  

 

Use LinkedIn Answers and LinkedIn Groups to tap into the wisdom of your LinkedIn network or the rest of the 161 million LinkedIn members. By posing questions and starting discussions you’ll be able to assemble solutions in record time.

 

Rather than visiting various news sources each morning, get your daily news fix in one place via LinkedIn Today. Customize LinkedIn Today so you get news that’s relevant to you and your clients. Access LinkedIn Today from your desk, iPad or phone by downloading LinkedIn Mobile.