World Cup Productivity Watch


Except in the United States (for the most part), the World Cup is a huge deal.  My brother, for example, works for an American multinational in Brazil and the company had to bring in TV sets for workers to watch games lest half the office be out sick on game days.  It’s just the way it is there – we love football – and foreigners doing business with Brazil just need to adjust.  But if you’re the person trying to get some information from my brother while he and his co-workers are watching a game, you might get frustrated.  Who cares if they’ll make up for the work later, you need the numbers now!

So, is the World Cup affecting your work?  If so, how are you dealing with it?


Freelance writer, translator and copyeditor currently living in Amsterdam. Former stressed-out marketing and public relations person in NYC. Likes languages but really doesn't like flowers. Contact through GreenRabbitTranslations.com.

Discussion

  1. qborreda on the 14th June

    Well, it somehow it is. We are going to organize a big event at the agency when Spain meets Switzerland next Wed. Actually, we are inviting clients to our patio, share some ‘la roja’ passion with them .. even thou the agency owner is swish!! 😀

    I can’t imagine what would be if Spain advances to the final game ..

    • Ana da Silva on the 15th June

      That’s great! Football ends up strengthening your relationship with your clients 🙂

  2. Miguel Alho on the 14th June

    Where stopping to watch tommorows game for sure (Portugal – Ivory Coast). Kind of cuts through the afternoon workflow, but we’re a small team and we’ll be starting the day earlier than usual to make up for it. Second game is at lunch time so it won’t cut through regular work hours.

    And everyone will be happier at work, unless, of coarse, we lose…

  3. wongpk on the 14th June

    Woke up and watch at midnight around 2.30am. Ended up more hour of work during the next day 😛 What can I do? Keep it on for this whole month!!

  4. Mike Moran on the 14th June

    Ironically, I am watching Italy’s opener against Paraguay as I write this comment. As a freelancer I have the fortunate opportunity to choose whether I will watch a match. For the most part, I am content to only listen to the game commentary while I work unless it will prove to be a great game such as Brazil’s upcoming game against Portugal. In those cases and any game the USA is playing in, I put work on hold. I have however compromised that I will work a bit later in the evening to make up for it.

  5. Lee Stone on the 14th June

    Personally, I think my productivity has increased.
    I have no interest in football, so with it filling a couple of the channels here in the UK and a new series of Big Brother filling another channel, it has pretty much removed the distraction of TV for the next month!

    • Ana da Silva on the 15th June

      So you’re pretty much being forced to be productive. That’s one way to go 🙂

  6. cryingmind on the 14th June

    I was wondering when this subject was coming up. It really is a big deal for us. It is not for nothing the biggest TV/sports event in the world.

    I bought some groceries today and noticed that the supermarket had a flat screen in the middle of the aisle, so that all the customers and more important the workers could watch their own team win (Netherlands vs. Denmark 2:0 by the way).

    A friend of mine watched the game together with his fellow employees and his boss. At my university all we students just don’t show up and even evening activities are not happening, although the game finished several hours earlier.

    For me it’s just heaven. I can follow every game like the awesome game last night (Germany vs. Australia). We totally rocked that one.

  7. Armando Roque on the 14th June

    TV sets in every single office for the duration of the World Cup… Love it!

  8. Katie on the 15th June

    Severe lack of sleep from all quarters. All the games are late night or REALLY early morning because of the time difference. My teachers are pretty good about it and attendance hasn’t really been affected (one of few benefits of an all girls school).

  9. Peter on the 15th June

    I live in South Africa. No Worries!!

    • Ana da Silva on the 17th June

      Did they shut down the country for the World Cup? 🙂

  10. Esteban Carpio on the 15th June

    Sadly I’m working at a PC (not a laptop) and I have to follow ESPN Gamecasts on their website as I work, when there’s an interesting move or a goal I jump immediately to the office next to me where a hughe LCD was installed for them to work (they work on 3d geographic models on it, but obviously now they’re not working on it, instead it’s tuned to the sports channel all day long).

    If I had a laptop at work I’d move this month to the room where the LCD is placed. All web based broadcatings services are blocked out, and due to IT policies I can’t bring my personal laptop to the office, wich combined with my 3G connection would allow me to watch the games online…

    I also leave for lunch an hour later so I can watch the last game of the day… Though I’m seriosly considering quitting so I can watch every single match from home with a cold beer on my hand…

    • Ana da Silva on the 17th June

      In what country are you?

      Yeah, quitting my job did free up some time for me…

    • Esteban Carpio on the 17th June

      I’m from Ecuador, the quitting part was a little exageration from my part (but still sounds tempting) haha, I guess freelancer is the way to go in this cases, I’ll aim for that for the next World Cup.

  11. Ashraf on the 15th June

    I am IN South Africa, the hype here is intense!!! It really is very hard to work. I am a freelancer and it’s tough to ignore the party atmosphere!

    • Ana da Silva on the 17th June

      You’re making me look forward to being in Brazil in 2014 already!

      Have a great time and good luck getting work done 🙂

  12. Anelly on the 30th June

    Here is a survey regarding World Cup and office productivity http://blog.cyclope-series.com/2010/06/is-your-productivity-affected-by-world-cup-2010-2/

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