Sitzfleisch: The German concept to get more work done
As a German I spent an abroad term in Canada, so here as a grain of salt the difference between German and the work ethic across the pond.<p>9am: I arrive in the lab at around, sit at my desk and set up my stuff. Unfortunately there was is one around to start the day with a coffee break.
10am: Canadian lab mates arrive, sit at their desks and go on facebook.
noon: After spending three hours reading papers, fitting curves to data, etc. I get hungry. I go to lunch with a Dutch person I met in the building a couple of weeks ago.
1.30pm: Back at my desks. Through the towers of take away junk on my lab mates desks, I can see they made some progress on facebook.
3pm: I try to convince some of my labmates to go for the coffee place within the building to have a short communal coffee break. Of course everyone is too busy and cannot socialize, except for the post-doc from india (who does not facebook)
3:45pm: Back at the desk, wrapping up the results of my day, my lab mates are still &quot;working&quot;. Next morning, they will tell me they stayed till 8pm in the lab and how increadibly busy they are.<p>Granted, in between visiting facebook and skipping communal lunch- and coffee breaks, they got some work done and I don&#x27;t claim I delivered more results in terms of research and learning &quot;output&quot;.<p>Yet I think it summarizes my and the experience of other Germans quite well. In Germany there is much more focus on not working long-hours but spending the hours you work productively. A German workday of an office worker is limited to max. 10h per day by law and my employer follows that rule religiously. Many colleagues contractually have 35 h work weeks and working 40 h requires a permit from the worker&#x27;s council. If you are sick, you stay at home on sick leave, you join your colleagues again when you are better. American colleagues working here for a year or so as part of their assignment quite often start out to send an email that they are sick and will work from home. If you are sick, why do you work? Your job now is to get better. Quite often, breaks for lunch or coffee are started and ended together. Only few people come into the office with half-liter coffee mugs to consume on their desks.<p>Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, and office cultures of individual companies may differ. My current company&#x27;s culture is very German if you arrive before 8am, you might be welcomed with handshakes by your colleagues.