The Difference Between Downtime and Downtime at Work (and Why It Matters)
When people say they work 40 hours a week, do they really work 40 hours—or is most of that time spent waiting for colleagues to respond to emails, communicating with coworkers , and going to meetings ? Heck, even when you’re alone at your desk, do you spend eight hours straight working on a spreadsheet or a graphics project, or maybe sipping a cocktail or texting your spouse every now and then?
There are simply hours that aren’t truly working time, even if they fall during the workday. These periods are called downtime or idle time, but there’s a difference between the two, and understanding it can help you work more efficiently and productively.
The difference between downtime and idle time
These terms don’t just refer to the time people spend at work; they also refer to, and derive from, the tools we use to do our jobs. These terms originate from the world of technology. Essentially, downtime is any time when an asset is waiting to start or isn’t scheduled to start, while idle time is when an asset can’t operate due to a failure or scheduled maintenance. For example, downtime occurs when you’re waiting for your computer to boot up; idle time occurs when the computer simply won’t turn on. Outside of technology, downtime occurs when you’re waiting for a colleague to formulate an answer to a question you asked, but idle time occurs when they simply don’t respond, leaving you hanging, unable to work without their response.
So, for people, downtime is unproductive time that occurs when demand is low or work stops unexpectedly. When you have all the necessary tools but no reason to use them, you’re in a state of downtime. For example, if you’re working on a presentation and need approval from a higher-up before you can begin, you’re stuck waiting for that approval, even though you could open the program to work on it. The reason you don’t is not because you lack the tools, but because you don’t want to waste time doing it incorrectly.
Downtime isn’t necessarily bad. You need to take breaks from work throughout the day. In fact, regular breaks make you more productive , but this is even more true if you take them intentionally, rather than having them imposed on you by someone or something else due to a failure to provide you with the necessary tools. You may experience downtime due to what corporate psychologists call the “dead time effect,” when you overwork yourself and become unproductive. In the productivity world, this is known as Illich’s Law : the more you work without a break, the less productive you ultimately become, as the quality of your work declines. It’s better to plan for downtime in advance than to allow it to happen due to burnout. The secret to making downtime and downtime work for you and your company is planning.
Planning with downtime and downtime in mind
Downtime can also occur when too many people are absent from the office, for example, on vacation or sick leave. In this case, unlike downtime, work cannot be completed simply when everything is ready, because the key tools—in this case, people—are completely disconnected from the network.
To avoid losses from downtime and downtime, you need a well-thought-out plan. First, you should personally plan for downtime. For example, if you work in an environment that depends on the delivery of certain assets or products, build time into your schedule that takes into account how long this might take. If it will take one day, allow for two days and fill any gaps with work you can complete without delivery, if any. Use time boxes and time blocking for this, or fill your calendar completely, and set two deadlines : the ideal date when the delivery (or anything else you need) will be delivered, and a flexible time when you can still work.
To plan for downtime, be sure to update the corporate calendar before your departure and check for other employees’ downtime when planning your personal schedule. Other employees’ downtime can lead to downtime for you if you don’t consider what you might need from them and don’t get everything you need before they leave.