Productivity Calculator
- Output per hour follows the BLS definition of labor productivity: output compared with the hours worked to produce it.
- Minutes lost can't exceed the hours worked. Planned breaks are not lost time; leave them out of hours worked.
- The yearly figure assumes every workday looks like this one.
- Output counts are only comparable for the same kind of work. A score is a guide for you, not a measure of your worth.
See how much of your workday went into your tasks, how much you got done per hour, and what the time lost to distractions is worth. Enter the hours you worked, the minutes you lost and what you completed.
How to use the calculator
- Hours worked: the time you were working, without planned breaks such as lunch.
- Minutes lost to distractions and interruptions: time you were at work but not on your tasks, including the time it took to get back on track. A rough estimate is fine; a time tracker gives a better one.
- Tasks or units completed: pick one kind of output and count it the same way each day, such as tickets closed, pages written or orders packed.
- More options: your hourly pay and how many days a year you work, used to put a dollar figure on lost time.
What the results mean
- Focus rate: the share of your working hours spent on your tasks. Focused hours ÷ hours worked.
- Output per hour worked: what you completed ÷ hours worked. This is the same idea economists use: the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor productivity by comparing output with the hours worked to produce it.
- Output per focused hour: what you completed ÷ the hours you actually spent on tasks. The gap between this and output per hour worked shows what distractions cost you in output.
- Pay for time lost: lost hours × your hourly pay, for the day and for a year of days like it.
For example, an 8-hour day with an hour lost and 12 tasks done gives a focus rate of 87.5%. That is 1.5 tasks per hour worked, or about 1.71 per focused hour. At $37.81 an hour, the lost hour is worth $37.81, or $9,831 over 260 days like it.
Where the default pay comes from
The default hourly pay of $37.81 is the average for all private-sector employees in September 2026, from the BLS Employment Situation report (a preliminary figure, which BLS may revise). Replace it with your own pay, or with what an hour of your time is worth to your business.
How to use your score well
- Compare like with like: output per hour only means something against your own past days doing the same kind of work. Ten emails and one finished report are not comparable.
- Track for a week: one day can be unusual. Note your results for five days and look at the pattern.
- Look at the gap: if output per focused hour is much higher than output per hour worked, cutting interruptions will help more than working longer.
- Don’t chase 100%: some interruptions are part of the job, such as helping a colleague or answering a customer. The aim is fewer of the ones you can avoid.
Ways to cut lost time
- Check email and messages at set times instead of as they arrive.
- Turn off notifications you don’t need during focused work.
- Block time in your calendar for your most important task, and protect it like a meeting.
- Write down what you were doing before an interruption, so getting back on track takes less time.
- Group small tasks, such as calls and admin, into one block.
Frequently asked questions
Divide what you produced by the hours it took. If you packed 120 orders in 8 hours, your productivity is 15 orders an hour. The calculator also shows the same figure for focused hours only.
There is no standard benchmark for individuals, and it depends on the job. Use your own results as the baseline and aim to raise them over time.
No. Planned breaks help you keep working well. Leave them out of hours worked, and count only unplanned time away from your tasks as lost.
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent to us or anyone else.
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Reviewed by Maxwell. Last reviewed October 23, 2026. Methodology: output per hour as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; default pay is BLS average hourly earnings for private-sector employees, September 2026.