to take my 'downtime' during work hours?

[wishfortime]

By 'downtime' I mean nice easy things, like online shopping, coffee breaks, and a bit of random internet surfing.

I work full time and have a 90 minute standing/rushed commute.

Mornings are a rush with early start and nursery drop off etc, My DH picks up DC from nursery between 6 and 6.30 pm, and i reach home about 7pm, spend an hour doing bath, bedtime routine with DC while my husband cooks, we eat at 8.30 then its cleaning kitchen, laundry and general housework, and getting sorted for next day while my DH catches up on work emails. Weekends are also quite jam packed as both our families live far away, so more often than not we either are travelling 300 miles (at least once/twice a month), or family/friends are staying with us.

So I don't get any 'free time' at home, hence i feel i need to take some 'down time' at work. My workload isn't always 100% capacity, but its the type of job where i need to be there and available or it impacts the team. Its paid well and often things kick off i do need to work late into the evening, and sometimes at weekends from home. (I don't get paid for this 'overtime', which is how i justify to myself that the downtime at quieter times during the day is ok).

is someone actually questioning this downtime ?

nope - just myself!

I do have days that are totally manic so don't get any 'downtime' at all and need to stay at work until work late too. But days like today - I worked solidly from 9am until 2pm, and now haven't got anything else urgent to do today so ive basically been 'monitoring' my emails whilst surfing the net for the past hour

I've read quite a lot (probably unscientific) about how most office workers aren't productive for the entire day. It's just not in our human nature. So you might take a break to do some online shopping, or you might spend longer making a cup of tea than you really need to. I've known people to take their phone to the toilet to watch videos for a bit.

I'm a firm believer that if you get the work done, then you're doing well. We shouldn't be measured by how long we sit staring at a screen for, and surely that's why people are salaried – especially if you're expected to be available in the evenings and at weekends. They're paying you for your skills and input, not who's the best at keeping their bum on a chair or staring mindlessly at a spreadsheet.

Obviously this doesn't apply to all industries, but I've worked in a lot of offices and seen hours of downtime taken in many different forms. If your output is good, I wouldn't worry.

OP, you sound similar. I have flexibility in my role and timetable because my work requires me to be available at many hours, often well outside UK working hours. So yes, I take the odd hour back. It's not formal, but known of.

I think YANBU.

I'm in the kind of job in which I'm paid to achieve certain specific things (rather than an 'hourly rate' type of job). I don't get paid overtime, and I sometimes work longer hours to meet a deadline, other days I'm less busy. As long as I'm achieving the specified things, I don't always need to be working flat out all day. Also it's quite mentally demanding so I need some down time or my head explodes! If you're in the same kind of job then your approach sounds reasonable.

But what happens when the boss walks in and you're doing a bit of internet shopping? Does he/she mind?

I think that is a thing now for me is that I do work in the evenings and on my days off, so the work life split is blurred. I enjoy what I do, but I have other things to organise as well.

i wouldn't worry overly - i'm in a mid-senior role, 4 days out of 5 are manic, but there are days where i can surf, catch up on online ordering etc .... i have no guilt in relation in this :D

So in other words your contract states that you work 9:30–5 PLUS any extra hours that are required? In that case you aren't actually doing any overtime and two hours of downtime a day could justifiably be seen as unreasonable.

You are legally entitled to lunch and breaks so use that as your downtime.

Incidentally, my answer was based on the assumption that someone at your workplace is complaining about this downtime. If they aren't, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I think there are two cultures of work answering here. Most professional jobs you manage your own workload - autonomy is really one of the key perks of getting more senior. Some days are full on with overtime, others more empty. If you are getting the work done, which you clearly are, then enjoy the downtime!

If your job is getting done and no one is complaining, then crack on. If you are worried about it, take your full hour lunch break every day. It's your business what you do during that time so you can do your surfing the net without guilt.

My current job is flexible and I know I have busy weeks when I put in well over my contracted hours, so I refuse to feel bad on a quiet week if I doss about a bit. It all evens out in the end. My employer is also fine with this.

My previous employer never noticed if I put in double my contracted hours, but then moaned when I needed to leave 10 minutes early, and told me I needed to make up the time or it would be deducted from my leave.

Needless to say I am more willing to work harder for my current employer than I was for those evil fuckers

I do the same. Meetings are often scheduled late in the evening when kids in bed so I don’t feel guilty taking some downtime during the day if I can. I work more than my hours and as long as I get my job done then why feel guilty

Yeah, when I was in a pretty senior management role I managed my own time, and that included doing a spot of internet browsing or online shopping at times when I wasn’t busy at work. I also had to stay late/work into the night/work at weekends fairly often so I reckon it balanced out.
DH has a senior role and is WFH today. He’s currently out for a walk with the DC and the dog. He was logged on and answering emails at 7am though.
If you’re doing your job to a high standard then it’s fine.

In fact, my manager always said ‘as long as the job is done and you’re meeting all your professional targets, I don’t care how you manage your time’.

In the type of job you are in I don’t know anyone irl who doesn’t do this to some extent when they can. And those who say “it’s unfair to your employer” “ask your boss” Seriously!! My employer is a billion dollar company with 100,000+ employees. I get my work done end of story. Some days manic some days dead - on the quiet days do it sit there staring at the screen? No I get personal stuff done online or at home if working from home. I don’t readily admit that to people who work in a different type job to this or who never get downtime as i get that it seems unfair & not easy to understand.

Yes I do this OP. It works very well for me.

All the people tutting about it here think we should all be grafting for the man 100% of every single paid minute - but fuck that.

My employers are very happy and keep giving me pay rises - it's a win/win situation.

Half the reason I'm freelance and WFH is because I can't stand authoritarian attitudes to staff management.

Funnily enough, I now earn more money by myself and that is with complete control of my own time. I frequently take an hour off here and there to dick about on the internet or whatever and still manage to hit every single deadline. I love my job. Should I ever become a manager of other people (highly unlikely as it is) I would focus on results, not time management.

But your problem is that a lot of companies and bosses don't think like this. Do it if you won't get caught or your boss is OK with it, is my advice. Otherwise suck it up and/or find another job.

How would you feel if you paid, say, a cleaner for three and a half hours a week and she spent the half hour every week dealing with personal matters, doing an online order etc. She may complete all her tasks in the remaining three hours - are you happy to pay for the other thirty minutes when she does no cleaning?

Ordinarily most people should be working when they are at work clearly, but yeah, if you are expected to work any and all hours required without paid overtime, then I say take your 1 hours downtime - am not including your lunch break! Cheeky fuckers, expecting you to do it for nothing!!

You will will also stay in the role longer if you aren't burnt out and feeling taken advantage of, so it is in the company's interests too. I don't suppose they would see it that way though if they don't recognise TOIL, so I would not get caught using the works computer or internet.

YABU in trying to justify it by telling us how busy your personal life is.

How would you feel if you paid, say, a cleaner for three and a half hours a week and she spent the half hour every week dealing with personal matters, doing an online order etc

That situation is not comparable. To make it so you would need to be employing a cleaner to clean X number of rooms to a certain specified standard; you would want the cleaner to be present between hours Y and Z but you might require the cleaner to be there during other unspecified hours.

i can't concentrate properly on the AIBU because I'm too busy trying to work out what your job is.

Is the cleaner doing extra hours at short notice for no more money?