The #1 IT Problem That’s Wasting Your Employees’ Time Every Day

Your team is losing hours of productive time every week and it’s likely not from laziness or poor planning.

It’s from slow, outdated, and poorly maintained computers.

We’ve seen it time and time again with businesses across Chicagoland. Someone calls us frustrated that staff can’t meet deadlines, collaboration is lagging, or clients are waiting on responses. And 9 times out of 10? It all points back to the most overlooked productivity killer in the workplace: underperforming tech.

The Real Cost of Sluggish Computers

Think about this for a second:

If each employee loses just 15 minutes a day waiting for their computer to boot, apps to load, or Outlook to unfreeze, that adds up to 65 hours a year per person.

But it gets even worse with older devices.

According to a 2018 Microsoft study, a business PC that’s more than four years old:

• Is 2.7x more likely to need repairs
• Results in 112 hours of lost productivity per employee
• Costs an average of $2,636 in total ownership per user
• Creates an annual opportunity cost of $3,784 per worker

Multiply that across your entire team, and you’re staring down a hidden six-figure productivity loss, all because the tech hasn’t kept up.

And it’s not just time. It’s morale. It’s client satisfaction. It’s mental bandwidth.

When tech doesn’t work, people get frustrated. Tasks get dropped. Deadlines get missed. Customers feel it. You feel it.

Common Culprits Behind the Problem

If your team’s computers are slow, here are the usual suspects:

• Aging Hardware
  Most business computers start showing their age after 3-4 years. If you’re hanging onto machines from 2018, you’re playing with fire.
• Bloatware & Clutter
  Over time, systems get bogged down with unnecessary programs, background tasks, and outdated files. Even simple things like not clearing browser cache can add up.
• Lack of Preventative Maintenance
  Without regular updates, disk cleanup, patching, and endpoint protection, performance drops and risks rise.
• Slow Internet or Network Bottlenecks
  Your computer might be fine… but your Wi-Fi or switch might be a bottleneck. Especially in hybrid environments or shared office setups.
• No Central IT Strategy
  If you’re still running a mix of random hardware, old operating systems, and ad-hoc fixes, your tech is working against you, not for you.

The Fix: How to Stop the Drain on Time & Money

Here’s what we recommend — and what we help clients do every day:

Standardize and Upgrade

Make a plan to upgrade business laptops and desktops every 3-4 years. Leasing through a service like LeadingIT’s FleetComplete Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) program can help you stay current without the big upfront cost.

Automate Preventive Maintenance

Use remote monitoring and management tools (we’ve got you covered) to automate cleanups, patching, and software updates before users even notice a problem.

Run an IT Health Check

Still guessing? Let’s run a quick Free Network Assessment and see what’s really slowing you down. You’d be surprised what we uncover in 30 minutes.

Bottom Line: IT Should Help You Work Faster, Not Slower

If your team is waiting on spinning wheels, frozen screens, or apps that crash mid-task… you’re not just losing time — you’re losing money. Outdated tech is one of the biggest silent killers of productivity in small businesses.

At LeadingIT, we help Chicagoland companies upgrade smart, without blowing the budget.
Let’s talk about your hardware situation — and see how much time (and sanity) you could get back.