To think most people aren’t 100% focused and productive the entire time they’re at work?

[stealingtime]

I was having a conversation with a coworker today, I’ll call her E I sit next to another coworker, who I consider a friend, I’ll call her K.

So E and I were on our lunch breaks at the same time. People have different lunch breaks as some people do different shifts/they want someone available to answer phones and be available in case any clients drop in.

K has an earlier lunch break to us, she works shorter days starting earlier as she has to work around her children.

Myself and E were chatting on our break, I would have considered E an aquaintance rather than a friend, but we were chatting. In the course of the conversation I said something along the lines of “yeah, I was saying about that to K this morning”

E then goes “How were you talking to K this morning? She started before you, and she doesn’t take her break at the same time?”

I was a bit bemused by that comment and said “Well, me and K sit next to each other, so we were chatting then.”

E then says that I shouldn’t be chatting to K instead of working, to which I said that I didn’t spend all day chatting, but would occasionally have a brief conversation whilst working.

E then tells me that what I’m doing is stealing time, and that she would never dream of chatting on work time.

I said to E that nobody works at 100% efficiency all day every day, we get up and make coffee, we occasionally have a brief conversation, if we need the toilet we go.

E disagreed with me and said that she and (other coworkers) would never do any of that on work time, that they would make coffee and use the toilet before work, would only chat on their allocated break times, and said that she was shocked that I thought that this was genuinely okay to do.

E is not a manager or supervisor. E and I are at the same job level, as well as K.
Do people really spend 100% of the work day on task/being productive, or is E just being holier than thou?
I might point out that nobody has ever raised any issues with my work, and I have been with the company a number of years.

AIBU to think that most people aren’t being totally productive the entire time they’re at work?

E is clearly a maniac

I think I need a new job maybe that's why I'm so tired as I'm "on" for 7.5hrs a day non stop

I've just come out of a really intense job at CAB. Even there, there was a chance to chat every now and then !

Working relationships can improve productivity because they help people communicate and collaborate effectively.

E is either envious or a fool.

If you work at 100% all day every day, you'll soon burn out and that's good for nobody.

There's a great book on productivity - I think called "Rest" - which shows the most productive people who produce the most only work for four hours a day.

When you work longer, your productivity goes down, to the extend where you have to work 14 hours a day to have the same output as someone who works five hours.

The longer you work, the slower you become.

So E is very unreasonable. You probably get way more done than her by giving your brain down time. She doesn't sound particularly bright

Fucking hell. No wonder I’m so knackered then . In for 8 hours today. Working. At 100% for 7 hours 40 mins. Similar most days.

I remember one of my friends telling me about their previous boss who genuinely 'suggested' they should combine toilet trips with making a coffee cause it was inefficient to do two trips. Talk about stepping over boundaries.

Ignore E.

E is wasting their life

That's really sad of her. She is giving so much of herself away and for what.

I work fully remotely, it would be really worrying if none of the team talked to each other. It's definitely not a practice encouraged by my organisation, we are reminded to take breaks and chat.

Is she five years old?! 🤣

I chat all the time.

Id stay away from E - she sounds like the sort of jobsworth who will report a cup of tea being made on company time (gasp).

No YANBU. E is a dick

I don’t have breaks. But I get a cuppa when I want one and stop and chat if I want to. We mostly have our own offices so I don’t sit next to anyone though. Id hate to be treated like a child and told I couldn’t get a drink/go to the loo when I wanted to.

Sounds like you work with Jeremy Hunt (or a Jeremy Hunt)

I call bullshit on 'E'
No way can you be 100% efficient all day

You need to do what they did in the Office and time your colleague every time she yawns, sneezes, stretches, drinks water etc and show her that she does not in fact operate at 100% efficiency!

E is demonstrating some very rigid thinking which would make we wonder whether she is neurotypical. Or maybe the work doesn't come as easily for her - not everyone can chat and work.

I’m anywhere between 20% and 80% on a given day, never 100%.

That’s pretty standard in my workplace / industry.

Completely mad. Does she not want anything more than to be a worker bee?

At my work, my colleagues and I go for walks, coffee, lunch, leave early for drinks. Completely normal and considered part of good working relationships and on a basic level - happiness?!?!

I work really hard in a high pressure delivery based role and I’m definitely not productive 100% of the day! Having chats and small breaks is really important for my concentration.

What would she do if she was talking to a colleague about a work issue and they changed it into a ‘chat’? This surely happens all the time!

Unfortunately, I am about 90% productive. I work part time hours but workload is genuinely the same as the full time staff.
So they can spread out their responsibilities over the week and enjoy regular chats. I have to get my head down to finish everything.

Total management issue and failure despite my complaints. I am looking for another job.

E sounds like a fun sponge.

I'm productive for about 29% of the day 😂

Anyone claiming to be working at 100% efficiency the entire time they’re at work is lying. Humans aren’t built that way. Having a quick chat now and then, using the loo, making a coffee, sending a text etc are all completely normal behaviours at work.

Some people obviously take the distraction and procrastination too far, but if it’s affecting their performance or causing problems in the team it’s for their manager to sort out. Absolutely nobody needs to be looking down on their colleagues for having an occasional chat.

I think it is for very short bursts of time.

I got promoted way above the service desk level at an old job, but would always be roped in for the busy season. We had a particular update for customers that took on average 15m. So possible to do 32 in an 8h day.

With the rest of the team working on it, there would often be a backlog of about 70, with lots of chat. The team leader would get me in, and I'd do roughly 30 per 7h, clear the backlog and still have a bit of time to sort my own emails.

If everyone had updated their productivity just slightly, it wouldn't have been necessary.

I liked doing it, because I could compete with myself, and get paid top whack to do basic service desk stuff (and yes, the team were decently paid to do so).