I’ve Noticed We’re Very Confident About Other People’s Work Habits

By Cliff Potts

People have strong opinions about how other people should be working. I’ve noticed this over the years, and I’m not sure where the confidence comes from.

Someone can look at you for about thirty seconds and decide whether you’re “working hard enough.” No clipboard required. No evidence needed. Just a feeling.

It’s an impressive skill, really.

Everyone Knows What “Hard Work” Looks Like

Apparently, hard work has a look. It involves being visibly busy, preferably annoyed, and ideally tired in a way others can observe. If you don’t look stressed, something must be wrong.

Quiet work raises suspicion. Thinking doesn’t register. Reading looks like resting. Writing looks like staring. Learning looks like avoiding responsibility.

If no one can see the gears turning, people assume the engine’s off.

Meanwhile, About Free Time…

What’s interesting is how polite we are about leisure.

A person can spend hours every day watching basketball — games, highlights, analysis shows, debates about referees, arguments about trades — and nobody intervenes.

No one says, “Are you sure that’s a good use of your time?”
No one asks if it’s productive.
No one worries about balance.

In fact, we admire it. We call it passion.

Nobody Ever Says This One Thing

I’ve never heard anyone say, “You know, you might be too into basketball.”

But I have heard people say:

• “You should be working harder.”
• “You’re always thinking about that.”
• “Do you really need to spend so much time on this?”

Same number of hours. Very different reaction.

Visibility Changes Everything

I think the difference is simple: some activities come with witnesses.

Sports are shared. They’re social. They come with commentary, community, and commercial breaks. Everyone understands what’s happening.

Quiet work doesn’t do that. It happens off to the side. It doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t reassure anyone that time is being spent correctly.

So people get uncomfortable.

This Isn’t About Basketball

Just to be clear, this isn’t a complaint about sports. People should enjoy things. Everyone needs something that isn’t about obligation.

What’s odd is how certain we are about judging effort — especially when we don’t actually know what we’re looking at.

We’re very confident critics for people with so little information.

A Modest Observation

Maybe we don’t actually know what “working hard” looks like as often as we think we do.

Maybe we just recognize the versions we’re used to — and question the rest.

I’ve noticed that once you see this, you start seeing it everywhere. And once you see it, it’s hard not to smirk a little the next time someone confidently evaluates a job they haven’t been watching.