AI Is Giving You Back Half A Day Every Week. How To Use It Wisely.

Forbes

13-06-2025

AI Is Giving You Back Half a Day Every Week
If you're using AI at work, even occasionally, you may already be gaining back a valuable resource: time.
Microsoft's Copilot study found that users spent 30 minutes less on email each week and completed documents 12 percent faster. Adecco reports time savings of around five hours a week for knowledge workers. Thomson Reuters says four.
These small efficiencies often amount to a hidden dividend of roughly half a working day every single week.
That figure is supported directionally, if more cautiously, by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Their analysis estimates that AI saves an average of 5.4% of their weekly work hours, which is about 2.2 hours every week.
Even taking the lowest estimate, the result is still meaningful: reclaimed time, quietly reshaping the workweek.
I describe the rising AI flood in earlier Forbes pieces and my book, The Human Edge. Some jobs are being submerged. But within the remaining roles, AI is leaving behind micro-efficiencies: small bursts of reclaimed time that quickly add up.
This is not speculative. It's already happening.
That landmark Federal Reserve survey of nearly 10,000 people found that:
Even the recent ChatGPT outage caused over 500,000 Google searches in hours. That wasn't hype. This tells us something important: AI has already woven itself into the fabric of modern work.
Over two decades of leadership development, I've worked with CEOs, scientists, creatives, and entrepreneurs. Different sectors, different goals, but the same underlying refrain:
"I'd love to reflect, learn, or think more strategically…but I don't have time."
Fair enough. Work is relentless. But AI is shifting the equation. The real question is this:
Here are five high-leverage moves to make the most of your AI-liberated time.
Here's my prediction.
The AI age doesn't just reward those who move fast. It rewards those who use time differently.