How many hours do you ACTUALLY work at work?

[Anonymous]

As in how many hours do you do real work, and not waste time on the internet/by the water cooler/chatting to coworkers/etc?

I feel like when I'm working from home I get much more work done because I'm not as distracted.

Though there are days (like today) when I can't concentrate and find myself reading ridiculously long DCUM threads that have nothing to do with anything I should be interested in and I'm just reading for the entertainment value.

So, come on, fess up!

[Anonymous]

I read an article that in the average day (either 8-9 hours) most workers spend 2 hours on the internet doing unrelated stuff to work (this does not count lunch). So I would say most people spend a good 25% of their day not doing work online, not to mention all the watercooler conversations.

That seems to be about right. But, I work fewer days of the week since becoming a mom and I still get just as much done and have time to futz around online, take my full lunch hour almost every day I'm here (3-4 days per week) and do Starbucks run, chat with colleagues, etc.

I think we spend too much time at work as a whole. If people have less time to do something they need less time, in general.

[Anonymous]

I work about 90% of the time that I am at work.

[Anonymous]

On some days I am much more efficient that on others, so usually i spend most of the time working (90-95%), in addition to lunch, but i just seem to do the same things at a slower rate (e.g. today: highly inefficient), on others, things go much more smoothly i'm i'm much more efficient.

[Anonymous]

are you the moms that don't allow your nannies to watch tv while kids are asleep?

[Anonymous]

I bill my time at work and so know the answer to this because if I leave my desk to go to the bathroom or get coffee or if I go on line I clock off and mark the time.

On avg. I need to be at work 8 hours to bill 5 (that includes a lunch break). If I'm very busy, under deadline or on calls all day I can do better, but otherwise when left to my own devices, this is what happens.

When I was full time and needed to bill 7 hours/day I had to stay 12 to do it. My productivity ratio went down as the day wore on and this also included a dinner break.

[Anonymous]

Also a time keeper so the less time I spend not billing the better.

[Anonymous]

There were a few days last week that I worked about one hour out of the day. The remainder of the time I surfed the internet, journaled, ordered birthday invitations, paid bills, emailed friends, went out to lunch, talked to my mom, and researched vacation houses (can't afford it, but had some fun.)

It is a Christmas freakin miracle that I haven't been fired yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On avg. I need to be at work 8 hours to bill 5 (that includes a lunch break). If I'm very busy, under deadline or on calls all day I can do better, but otherwise when left to my own devices, this is what happens.

This is pretty much me, too. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

When I was a teacher, I was "in front of students" from about 8:30 to 3:00, minus 30 minutes for lunch. That time was pretty much all work. Plus another 15 minutes of bus duty, and 30 minutes for planning at the end of the day, and 30 minutes for planning during the day. (That was the only time I might have goofed off on the computer so I won't count it.)

So 6 hours and 45 minutes was "work". I'll freely admit that the time from 8 to 8:30 was often spent drinking coffee and chatting with coworkers, although we might have also been on breakfast duty at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think we spend too much time at work as a whole. If people have less time to do something they need less time, in general.

totally agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were a few days last week that I worked about one hour out of the day. The remainder of the time I surfed the internet, journaled, ordered birthday invitations, paid bills, emailed friends, went out to lunch, talked to my mom, and researched vacation houses (can't afford it, but had some fun.)

It is a Christmas freakin miracle that I haven't been fired yet.

ditto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were a few days last week that I worked about one hour out of the day. The remainder of the time I surfed the internet, journaled, ordered birthday invitations, paid bills, emailed friends, went out to lunch, talked to my mom, and researched vacation houses (can't afford it, but had some fun.)

It is a Christmas freakin miracle that I haven't been fired yet.

ditto.

me too. the only days I work a full 7 hours (giving myself an hour for lunch/breaks) is when I have a deadline or when I'm working on something really interesting - which is about once a month. However, I do think that when I turn my full attention to something, I'm able to complete projects faster than the average worker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There were a few days last week that I worked about one hour out of the day. The remainder of the time I surfed the internet, journaled, ordered birthday invitations, paid bills, emailed friends, went out to lunch, talked to my mom, and researched vacation houses (can't afford it, but had some fun.)

It is a Christmas freakin miracle that I haven't been fired yet.


ditto.


me too. the only days I work a full 7 hours (giving myself an hour for lunch/breaks) is when I have a deadline or when I'm working on something really interesting - which is about once a month. However, I do think that when I turn my full attention to something, I'm able to complete projects faster than the average worker.

Me too. I sometimes can't believe how much time I waste not working. The worst part is I'm considered one of the superior performers and a "go-to" person in my division for the more challenging projects. So what are my coworkers doing?!

[Anonymous]

aren't you ashamed of staying for this long out of the house while your children are growing up being raised by someone else?