How many times have we heard the phrase, “don’t sweat the small stuff”? Some people really focus on minor, inconsequential things, allowing them to take over their minds and ruin productivity. While one or even a couple of these tasks might actually be small things, when combined, they can leech productivity and cause stress as employees must multitask and shift focus rapidly. This means that sometimes they will not be able to give proper focus to a specific problem.

Fortunately, properly configured time management systems can give insight into these small tasks that can cause big headaches. It does, however, require a little more attention than many managers give employee timesheets. When reviewing employee timesheets, managers typically look for major trends and might disregard one-off or minor tasks that employees complete. This can be a major oversight.

Instead, it pays to look at the number of minor tasks that employees complete and reference that against the workload of other employees. If one employee has too many minor tasks, it might be wise to consult with that employee and see if he or she feels too much pressure. Maybe it would help to spread those tasks over several employees. A good sign that this could be necessary is when an employee begins spending less time, or delivering less value, on their primary tasks with the most importance.

While some may say don’t sweat the small stuff, the sad reality is that many employees do not have an option. Instead, I would offer the following advice to supervisors looking to optimize their organization: keep watch only for giants, and you may be eaten by ants.