Imagine this: it’s your first meeting back at the office after more than a year of quarantine, and your manager prompts the team to share one thing they’ve done with all the extra time. Kathy learned to play the saxophone, Mike prepped for his next marathon, and Monique beat her record for books read in a year. You? You got day drunk from a coffee cup, spent your work “breaks” playing video games, and watched so much porn that you got this close to making an OnlyFans.
am I working at my regular capacity? no. but am I prioritizing and taking care of the most important tasks? no. but am I at least taking care of myself and my mental health? also no.
— Elizabeth Teng 👩🏻💻📡🌌 (@etengastro) January 12, 2021
Here’s how people have been spending company time during the pandemic, according to this new study
If that’s close to the truth, you wouldn’t be the only one. A recent study by e-conolight, conducted by ZDNet, revealed what “working-from-home” really means to Americans. Here’s what the participants had done on company time:
- 42% had been on at least one date
- 41% have had sex
- 50% admitted to having at least one alcoholic drink
- Nearly 60% took a nap
- A whopping 77% shopped online in between working
- 50% worked on projects for another company
- 44% had gotten in trouble at work for being off-task, and 39% had been fired for doing non-work-related activities.
- 40% confessed to spending four or more hours away from their work computer
44% had gotten in trouble at work for being off-task, and 39% had been fired for doing non-work-related activities.
Of course, the study doesn’t take into account everyone’s special circumstances, and let’s not forget that women are bearing the brunt of the pandemic for a list of reasons. However, it does offer a look into our collective burnt out minds, and to be honest, you might feel less alone in pursuing your true desires during work time.
Neilson did their own study, finding that alcohol sales were up 55%, and a lot of that was hard liquor. The numbers show that people have been trying to find of hit of happiness through spirits like tequila, gin and pre-mixed cocktails, with sales shooting up 75% since 2019. Cannabis sales saw record highs as well in places where it’s legal — Illinois sold $36 million in legal weed in just March alone. On top of that, Americans are watching more content than ever before — an overwhelming 156.1 billion minutes just in the week of March 16.
If you saw yourself in any of these stats, let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that it’s been almost two years since we’ve been cooped up at home. We’ve hit the point where people are searching anywhere for a good time, and don’t really care if that happens to be on company time.
Related: 10 signs you’re heading for a burnout diagnosis.
