"It's About Not Going Mental": 30 People Share How Much Work They Actually Do At Their Office Job

Research shows that, on average, employees tend to do only around three to four hours of real work every single day. The rest of their time is spent reading the news, talking to their colleagues, surfing social media, looking for a new job, taking breaks, and doing other things.

Ideally, the more transparency there is in an office, the better it would be for everyone. Practically, however, talking about how you’re able to get your daily tasks done in just a few hours is a wonderful way to be resented by some of your coworkers. It’s also a direct path toward getting more work dumped on you by your boss.

If everyone were honest about how much they actually work, society as a whole could move toward shorter workdays and a more grounded understanding of efficiency. Instead, what you have is folks who feel like they have to pretend that they’re incredibly busy or drag out their tasks as much as possible. This leads to inefficiency, complacency, and a lack of trust between the staff and their superiors. 

After all, if the only reward for efficient and smart work is… even more (unpaid) work, what’s the point of being honest with management? Unless your company has set out a clear career path for everyone who’s joined and genuinely rewards speed and skill in very tangible ways, each employee needs to be honest with themselves about their priorities in life.

For some, it might mean combining those free hours with remote work to spend more quality time with their loved ones. For others, it might offer the opportunity to save time and exercise, do chores, and work on their hobbies that they’d otherwise neglect because they’re exhausted after their long commutes.

Others still might use this time to sharpen their work-related skills or learn new ones, network with other professionals, and take on new projects for new challenges.

How employee flexibility is treated will, of course, depend on your particular job and the company’s philosophy. Some businesses only care about the results and understand that their staff have lives outside of the office. Others, however, practically demand that you’re stuck to your seat, even if you’re ahead of the pack.

If you’re doing extra work to impress the higher-ups for some nebulous reward in the far-off future, you may want to talk to your manager about setting out some specific details. Preferably on paper. Similarly, if you’re exhausted, demotivated, and burned out from all the additional work that’s been dumped on you, you may want to enforce some healthy boundaries to restore some semblance to your work-life balance. You could start off by refusing to check your work email after hours and going home instead of doing (unpaid) overtime.