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?

Vast majority of the time in my workplace I have observed people to do all sorts.

Usually arrive circa 8:30-9:30, work till 11, go and print something off and chat for a bit. Make a coffee. Return to desk for half an hour at 11:40. Chat to colleagues in office. Walk out for lunch, 12:30 by this point. Return anywhere between 1-1:30. Maybe a meeting for an hour or two. Then commute home. Then log on at home for an hour or so and then log off. It’s not 8 hours if you look at it like that. When I started I was bemused as I came from a targeted call centre background and I quickly began to learn that it’s natural for most jobs to have busy and quiet days. I have described a quiet-ish day. Some days can be full throttle flat out working undisturbed and some days quieter still, I think it averages out at probably over all of our hours.

Collleague is BU. All work environments are different and that’s how it should be. Nobody can be productive if they don’t take breaks

I did once see a TV documentary about productivity at work where some German workers expressed shock about how much time British workers spent not working. They worked shorter hours, but when they were working, they were working.

Sure, it can be taken to extremes, but it was an interesting insight.

E = Jobsworth.

I’m pleasantly surprised by the results - I’ve seen a lot of posts over the years that would suggest taking any time out of the working day for frivolities is frowned on by a certain minority. I always enjoy the madness of a thread where the op is miserable because their colleagues won’t even say hello in the morning or some such and is immediately rounded on with “Well, I go to work to work, not make friends or pander to the emotional needs of extreme extroverts”. Haven’t seen one of those in a long time.

If I couldn’t get up from my chair once in a while and/or have a chat I think I’d be less productive than I am now. Pretty normal for office jobs, I think.

I was a teacher so I've no experience of chatting to colleagues during work time outside of breaks. But I've always assumed that in most jobs, of course you'd pass the time of day and have the occasional brief chat.

I imagine that it's really frustrating if people are trying to chat to you when your really focused on something, but it doesn't sound as though she was complaining about that.

E’s focus on what constitutes work is too narrow. In every workplace I’ve been at building supporting collaborative relationships with colleagues is important, if not vital.

Yes, that ten minute chat with Dave on how our kids are doing at school might seem irrelevant. But in it means that when I need to work with him on a project we’ve already built a rapport and can hit the ground running.

Teams where people chat and generally get along with each other are more likely to have less staff turnover as well, in my experience.

E needs to see that for most jobs ‘work’ involves more than just ticking items off your to-do list.

My work day split is usually:
1/3 working
1/3 chatting
1/3 faffing

E claims not to go to the toilet during work? She's doing herself no favours there, assuming it's true.

Wonder how she'd have coped at my last job? I sat next to my boss and we yacked a lot, while managing to work at the same time. Amazing.

Poor E doesn’t have any pals at work to chat to

E sounds like a robot.

My problem with being in the office is everyone wants a chat, show you this, have a group chat. I love working from home as I am a lot more productive but there is a part of me that misses the interaction as it would be odd to ring a colleague and have a chat like we would do sat next to each other.

German work culture is very different:

1. Nobody ever works more than 40 hours a week unless they’re doing overtime
2. More focus on rules and processes - so work’s done faster
3. People talk directly - tasks are clear. No need to send a million emails to follow up 1 as people can understand from the first one.
4. Nobody ever comes into work sick - in some workplaces doing so can give you the sack
5. Early starts, early finishes. It’s rare to finish after 4 unless you’re customer facing.
6. Work isn’t for building friendships, it’s for work. Germans don’t often socialise with their colleagues - it’s the exception rather than the rule.

I have extremely black and white thinking thanks to autism and I have just been off for burnout because I was told to give 100%, 100% of the time. It's simply not achievable long term without extreme detrimental cost to ourselves.

My coworkers who get less caught up on the rules are more productive and happy than I have been. I'm trying to learn to be more like them!

@JustAMinutePleass

Thank you - that’s interesting.

The overwhelming majority response on this thread does seem to explain why we have a rep for poor productivity in the U.K.

I'd be quite curious to know the science and numbers for how long someone can be completely productive for.

Im self employed, work from home alone.

At a push, the most total billable hours I can do per day is 5.5, and that's a very good day, I'm usually at my desk 7.5 to 8 hours a day, maybe more.

I used to feel bad, and think why can't I just be 100% productive in that time, but I've come to accept that my mind just switches of and needs to wander, I need to message friends, doom scroll, mooch about the house. I can't force my brain to cooperative.

When I consider previous jobs, like office jobs or on wards, if I added up the amount of time I dilly dallied in the kitchen making a coffee, hung around my mates desk having a chat, took 45 minutes to send a 5 minute email because I kept stopping to check my phone. I think that would amount to about 5 hours of total productivity.

Which I'd like to think is pretty normal 🤔

E is a dream employee for management

Does E tug her forelock when the boss walks by too?

She'd feel conflicted if she did - it would distract her from her work! 😱

I worked somewhere where we had to log our time in 5 minute slots, people barely talked and it was a miserable place. Most places, people do chat which actually makes it a nice place and if anything makes you more productive as you feel good about your team mates and the organisation. I've made great life long friends through work and even found a husband!

🤣🤣🤣
This!!!

I knew an E once. She was a bit scary. YANBU

I always think if your contract is x hours then you should be productive for x hours. So I'd start earlier /finish later to allow myself time to chat etc. I mentally clock off when someone starts chatting and clock back on when that person finishes - or when I end the conversation If I'm busy.
But I'm autistic and I don't think many people do this

Only a machine or robot or any mechanical item can work like that, for humans that's impossible I'm afraid and E knows it too lol half my thoughts at work would be about things nothing to do with work, you can't help it, thinking about your Childrens day or maybe what you're planning for the weekend.

In depends on your job role. I worked in an organisation that had a call centre. The call centre guys constantly had their time tracked and had to justify even a toilet break..

I worked in marketing and it was not the same. But then we didn't clock on/clock off like they did.

I would hate to work at the sort of place that notices what time you go for a break and for how long. I've decided my own pace of work for many years.