Are remote workers really working all day? No. Here's what they're doing instead.

What do remote and hybrid workers do all day?

They often brag about how productive they are with no gossipy colleagues to distract them or time wasted on long commutes.

But a new survey is offering fresh insights into how remote workers really spend their time. Spoiler alert: It’s not all white papers and PowerPoint presentations.

While employees in the office might kill time messaging friends or flipping through TikTok, remote workers take advantage of being far from the watchful gaze of bosses to chip away at personal to-do lists or to goof off.

Nearly half of remote workers multitask on work calls or complete household chores like unloading the dishwasher or doing a load of laundry, according to the SurveyMonkey poll of 3,117 full-time workers in the US.

A third take advantage of the flexibility of remote work to run errands, whether popping out to the grocery store or picking up dry cleaning.

Sleeping on the job? It happens more than you might think. One in 5 remote workers confessed to taking a nap. 

Some 17% of remote workers said they worked from another location without telling anyone or watched TV or played video games. A small percentage – 4% – admitted to working another job. 

Multitasking during Zoom calls is another common pastime.

Nearly a third of remote and hybrid workers said they used the bathroom during calls while 21% said they browsed social media, 14% went on online shopping sprees, 12% did laundry and 9% cleaned the kitchen.

In a finding that may shock some, 4% admit they fall asleep and 3% take a shower.

"Employees are making their own rules to accommodate the demands of high-pressure work environments," said Wendy Smith, senior manager of research science at SurveyMonkey. "One thing we uncovered was that what you might consider 'off-the-booksbehavior' is widespread."

And it's not just the rank-and-file. More than half of managers and 49% of executives multitask on work calls, too, Smith said.

When asked “have you ever browsed social media while on a video or conference call at work,” managers, executives, and individual contributors were about even (22%, 20%, and 21%), she said.

But managers and executives shopped online more frequently than individual contributors (16% and 14% compared to 12% of individual contributors), according to Smith.

Different generations also have different work habits: 

• 26% of millennials admit to taking a nap during the workday compared to 16% of GenX; 
• 18% of GenZ have worked another job compared to 2% of GenX and 1% of boomers; 
• and 31% of GenZ have worked from another location without telling anyone compared to 16% of GenX.