Digital tools have become essential to nearly every office job—but using too many of them can be a major source of frustration. New research reveals that constantly switching between apps and platforms isn’t just annoying—it’s a significant drain on productivity.
Localization platform Lokalise recently surveyed 1,000 white-collar professionals across 11 industries in the U.S. to understand how digital tools affect their work and well-being. The findings were clear: workers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of systems they’re expected to juggle daily.
A striking 17% of respondents reported switching between platforms more than 100 times in a single workday. All that toggling adds up: on average, employees lose 51 minutes each week just managing tool fatigue—equating to roughly 44 hours of lost productivity annually.
This time loss becomes more understandable when you consider how many platforms modern workers must navigate. More than half (55%) use three to five different tools every day, while nearly a third (31%) juggle six to ten—or more.
When asked which tools consume the most time, employees pointed to email (47%), followed by messaging platforms like Slack, Discord, and Microsoft Teams (35%), video conferencing software (22%), and calendar or scheduling apps (17%). Among specific applications, Outlook was cited as the biggest source of fatigue (35%), closely followed by Microsoft Teams (29%), Gmail (24%), and Zoom (15%).
The toll isn’t just logistical—it’s emotional, too. Over half of workers (56%) say their workday suffers due to the excessive number of digital tools they must use. Yet despite this widespread frustration, most companies aren’t addressing the problem: a staggering 79% of employees report that their employer has taken no steps to streamline tools or reduce digital fatigue.
And the burden doesn’t stop when the workday ends. Many employees feel pressured to stay connected after hours—60% say they feel obligated to respond to notifications outside of work time. As a result, digital tools aren’t just complicating professional lives; they’re spilling over into personal time, leaving workers feeling perpetually “on” and increasingly burnt out.