Is AI really saving you as much time as you think?

If you are using AI in your daily work, you know how great it feels to do research in twenty minutes instead of an hour, or presentations that would take you days now takes you hours. It's incredible!

But with all this time saved, why do people still feel as busy as before? Research done inside an AI heavy company confirmed that you do save time, but what happens with the time saved is what's important and a topic for conversation.

Studies found that Copilot users cut email time 31% (3.6 hrs/week) in a large randomized study, and 52% of U.S workers now use AI with real productivity gains. However, Workday found that 40% of savings get eaten by rework (only 14% see a clear net gain), and Berkeley research found AI often just pushes people to take on more work instead of freeing them up.

What does this mean? Saved time gets easily absorbed; more meetings, more tasks, more work. If you actually want to keep the hours you are gaining, it is important to be purposeful with your time.

Here are three simple ideas to get started.

1. Think of 'reinvesting', not 'rewarding'

If you want to get real value from this, think about one category that would be valuable, you can decide to use the time saved and reinvest in deep work, learning, or maybe planning and strategic thinking? Maybe its about getting more rest? Think about how you want to reinvest the time saved beforehand and don't just jump onto the next task. This is an opportunity to use this time for the things you have always said you don't have time for, the important but not urgent work.

2. Decide on one task a day that you don't use AI

It can be tempting to have your chat open and to use this wherever and whenever possible. What research is showing is that constant multitasking using AI contributed to making the intensification feel relentless. You need a break from it, your nervous system does. Pick one task that you enjoy doing slowly, being present and not using any tools.

3. Decide what a great day looks like before, not after

If you don't decide where your time goes, it will be snapped up quickly. You might notice that as you feel more productive, you take on more and more unknowingly. Decide what enough looks like and what you are happy with beforehand. What does a productive day look like? Use this as a way to measure your achievements daily instead of doing, doing, doing. Doing this before and not after is key because it is difficult to define what this looks like when you are feeling under pressure.

It is not only about doing more with AI, the real success comes in deciding what you do with the time you are gaining. At the end of the day, using AI allows you to have more choice over how you want to use your time.

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