Recent research has highlighted the fact that many employees would like to have more time to themselves in order to increase their productivity.

Conducted by Ask.com in conjunction with Harris Interactive, the study found that 86 per cent of US office workers are most productive when they are on their own.

The study highlighted the range of problems in the office that people find particularly irritating. The most commonly cited distraction, with 61 per cent, was noisy coworkers. This was followed by social events (19 per cent), such as birthday celebrations and lunches.

However, people are also lead off-task by 'water cooler talk', which was listed by 19 per cent of workers, and messy workspaces, listed by 17 per cent of workers.

Lisa Ross, vice-president of human resources at Ask.com, commented: “This research gives us broader context when thinking about the workplace culture we're trying to foster.”

She added that the study revealed that working from home does not necessarily suit everyone. The study found that 29 per cent of respondents indicated a preference for working form home, compared to 63 per cent of employees who would prefer to have a focused work space in an office building.