Coffee drinking as a time waster
Photo by Kanko*
Coffee is a common part of office culture. For many people having a cup of coffee during a break is an everyday routine. Workers gather around the coffee machine or go to a specific room for that and have some chat. For some employees having a cup of coffee is the first thing they will do when they arrive in the office.
Having a cup of coffee during the break and chatting to co-workers may seem to be a good way of resting and relaxing. To some extent it is, but unfortunately coffee brakes tend to have negative effect on productivity. Many people do not notice how much time these breaks really cost. You may think that you will just relax and have a cup of it and in 10 minutes you will be back working, but in reality it may happen that you will not resume your work in 20 or more minutes. You start chatting with other people you will not notice how the time flies. And even if you will get back behind your desk it takes you some time to reach the full productivity.
Starting your day with having a cup of coffee is not the best way to do it. Usually people are fresh in the beginning of the day (if they have slept well). Then they should not spend their efficient working time on drinking coffee. Instead of that starting with the work right away when you arrive in the office will give a much better start for your day. It will also give you a big emotional boost as it makes a big difference if you have spent the first 30 minutes on chatting or you have already complete some of your job tasks.
Some people drink coffee also while sitting behind the desk and doing work. It will decrease their working speed. It is a distraction to the work and it does not allow you to fully concentrate on your job. Each time you take a sip from the cup if turns your attention away and wastes time.
Furthermore, coffee is a dehydrate. It means that drinking it will drain water out of human body. Dehydration will have a negative impact on your work progress. If there is not enough water in your body then you mind will not work at full potential. You are not able to think fast and you will get tired fast. As coffee causes body to lose water then heavy coffee drinkers will have to use bathroom more than other people, which again causes them to make breaks in their work and to loose working time.
If you want to drink coffee during your work day then you should keep an eye on the amount of consumption. I would not recommend you to have more than 2 cups a day. In addition, you need to drink water to balance the amount of water in your body.
I personally do not drink coffee at all when I am working. I am not much of a coffee drinker and if I drink it then I usually do it in the evenings. The only exceptions are the days when I have to get up especially early for example at 5 AM and I have to drive. Then it allows me to wake up.
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My name is Kristjan-Olari Leping. I am a speed reading trainer. I have an associated professor position at the University of Tartu, am a policy analyst in a policy research center, I am a trainer and I am involved in many other business projects. 