Time-Tracking App Reveals the Work/Break Habits of Productive Employees

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If your bosses could retrieve data detailing how much work you do on your computer versus how much time you spend goofing off, would they be happy with what they saw? How about the amount of time you spend away from your desk altogether? Is just the thought of it compelling you to start printing out résumés? Before you do, know you shouldn’t be too worried if got around that you spend 15 minutes per hour away from your desk. It turns out that’s in line with the habits of the most productive employees.

What’s the Big Idea?

According to Jena McGregor of The Washington Post (who is relaying information from themuse), a time-tracking computer app called DeskTime has shed light on the work/break ratio linked to the top 10% most productive of its 36,000+ users. That ratio, it turns out, is 52 minute of work followed by seventeen minutes of break time spent away from the computer. This goes against previously held beliefs that productive workers took frequent short breaks. Instead, those who got the most work done did so by marathonning for an hour and then halting for an extended stretch to recover.

Data related to the Facebook or Reddit habits of productive employees is as of yet unavailable. Sorry.