{"id":3634,"date":"2016-06-08T23:17:06","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T17:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3634"},"modified":"2016-06-08T23:17:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T17:47:06","slug":"punctuality-productivity-debate-indian-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634","title":{"rendered":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Another morning, another train missed. I wish I could kill punctuality. That\u2019s what I told myself when I missed the first local on my way to work. But by the time I\u2019d missed the third train of the morning \u2013 the 9.26 am local \u2013 I knew I was screwed. You see, when you\u2019re someone who works in Mumbai, the city\u2019s network of <\/span>local trains<\/span><\/a> and the crowd inside them dictate the kind of work day you\u2019re about to have. And it was clear that I was going to have a work day that\u2019d make me want to give up on life, pack up my belongings, and move to the hills. For there was no way in hell that I\u2019d reach my office before 10.30 am, the time when the brows of my boss begin arching to form a perfect frown.<\/span>\n\nThe chief tenet of professionalism hinges on an employee\u2019s punctuality, especially his\/her ability to reach office on time. And unfortunately, in an <\/span>Indian office<\/span><\/a> your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who reaches work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines. The employee of every year is the guy who is the first one to enter office. <\/span>\n\nIf there was an Indian version of <\/span>How To Get Away With Murder<\/span><\/i>, I\u2019m pretty sure the answer would involve reaching work before 10 am. But if you, like me, are a chronic latecomer, you are branded a slacker. You are then at the receiving end of a tirade of dirty looks that you\u2019ll be bestowed from almost everyone who has reached office before you. Coming up with the most creative or productive ideas will prove to be futile as your day will be accompanied by guilt, especially as you go out of your way to avoid making eye contact with your boss. And when it\u2019s time to call it a day, you\u2019ll realise you\u2019ve secretly won the \u201cMost Unproductive <\/span>Employee<\/span><\/a> of the Day\u201d award. All of this could have been avoided if everyone didn\u2019t make such a big deal about getting to work at exactly 10.30 am. <\/span>\n\nSimply put, nothing good really comes from <\/span>punctuality<\/span><\/a>. Maybe this is why Clark Kent was an average employee. I mean, being Superman must have been difficult enough, and then there was the added pressure of reaching work on time.<\/span>\n\nSo here\u2019s what I want to know: Why is <\/span>punctuality<\/span><\/a> the gold standard for professionalism and not productivity? Please don\u2019t give me the same old \u201cearly bird gets the worm\u201d crap. Because I\u2019m certain I can get the worm even if I wake up at noon and finish my work on time. And that\u2019s exactly what so many <\/span>workplaces<\/span><\/a> continue to ignore. Instead, they\u2019re under the impression that employees will magically be bestowed with discipline only if they reach work at a certain time. In the process of prioritising punctuality, they end up completely overlooking productivity. Come to think of it, arriving on time may have even made sense back in the day, when a nine-to-five job was the standard. When you had no laptops, and worked on huge machines that you could not carry home. When you were not expected to respond to emails while commuting, when <\/span>office correspondence <\/span><\/a>was not carried on over WhatsApp. <\/span>\n\n

I think it\u2019s time we pay attention to author Evelyn Waugh, who said, \u201cPunctuality is the virtue of the bored.\u201d \n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nBut in 2018, when most of us multitask by the minute, are available 24\/7, why is getting first to work still the pinnacle of achievement? Often obsessing over being punctual takes away from what really matters \u2013 excelling at work. <\/span>Hard work<\/span><\/a> and punctuality are exclusive to each other and the former does not necessarily happen because of the latter. There\u2019s enough research out there that points out that if you are spending more than eight hours at work you are not productive. In fact during an <\/span>eight-hour workday<\/span><\/a>, the average employee works for about three hours \u2013 two hours and 53 minutes, to be more precise. <\/span>\n\nSo does it really matter if you come in at 10.30 am or noon? <\/span>\n\nOver the years, we\u2019ve been acquainted with Shakespeare saying, \u201cBetter three hours too soon than a minute too late.\u201d But I think it\u2019s time we pay attention to author Evelyn Waugh, who said, \u201cPunctuality is the virtue of the bored.\u201d <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":3635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[3429,6833,4724,3430,80,4727,6834,6835,6836],"class_list":["post-3634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-boss","tag-employees","tag-hr","tag-indian","tag-mumbai","tag-office","tag-productivity","tag-punctuality","tag-working"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kadambari Srivastava\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kadambari Srivastava\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kadambari Srivastava\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3\"},\"headline\":\"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634\"},\"wordCount\":774,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1541831656.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Boss\",\"employees\",\"HR\",\"indian\",\"mumbai\",\"office\",\"productivity\",\"punctuality\",\"working\"],\"articleSection\":[\"POV\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634\",\"name\":\"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1541831656.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3\"},\"description\":\"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1541831656.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1541831656.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=3634#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3\",\"name\":\"Kadambari Srivastava\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kadambari Srivastava\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=299\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality","description":"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality","og_description":"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kadambari Srivastava","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality","twitter_description":"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kadambari Srivastava","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634"},"author":{"name":"Kadambari Srivastava","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3"},"headline":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality","datePublished":"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634"},"wordCount":774,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","keywords":["Boss","employees","HR","indian","mumbai","office","productivity","punctuality","working"],"articleSection":["POV"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634","name":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-08T17:47:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3"},"description":"In an Indian office your dedication is determined by what time you get to work. Which means, that you get labelled a \u201cbad employee\u201d for reaching work at 11 am instead of 10.30 am, but not if you\u2019re one of those people who is at work at 9.30 am and yet does not meet deadlines.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3634#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why We Need to Pick Productivity Over Punctuality"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/#\/schema\/person\/bab59c87ec668308d5b8a45311d63cd3","name":"Kadambari Srivastava","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8604e7a2f4488cee3f8625322549696bc3eacfa69dc987511446877e5f0f0007?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kadambari Srivastava"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=299"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1541831656.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}