Full-time marketing employee with 10 years' experience works 3 hours a week, refuses to work for longer: 'I view work as a distraction to my actual life'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jul 15, 2026 4:30 PM EDT

There are employees out there who are quiet quitting at levels you might not even think are possible.

For one reason or another, almost all of us can accept that some jobs just do not require us to grind as hard as others do. The workload of a nurse working a 12-hour shift in the emergency department is not likely to be comparable to that of someone with an office job that has a made-up title. Still, we usually expect that most people who are employed in a full-time position are fulfilling tasks related to it at least half of the time. If somebody thinks that a position is worth 40 hours a week, surely that has to be partially true.

The fact is that for a minority of workers, this isn't the case at all. They can get away with doing their duties in a fraction of their allotted hours and have no problem in doing so. Depending on your perspective, these types of employees are either very lucky or way too tolerant of letting themselves waste their own time. One thing's for sure, they have managed to finesse the system in a way that not everybody is capable of.

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  • A representation of an employee closing her eyes and resting her head in her hand while sitting behind a laptop, with a colleague working in the background
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A representation of an employee closing her eyes and resting her head in her hand while sitting behind a laptop, with a colleague working in the background

  • An employee who had worked in marketing for a decade confessed that at their supposedly full-time job, they only worked a couple of hours a week. Despite the position being in-office, they managed to make themselves look busy while doing the bare minimum to get by with the duties that came with their role.

    They did not see much of an issue with this, as their manager still gave them good performance reviews, and the work still got done. They reasoned that they wanted the focus of their life to be something other than work, and they weren't interested in corporate success.

  • I only work 2-3 hours per week at my full-time job

    I have been in marketing for almost 10 years now and I simply don't care to put any effort in anymore. I have been at the same company for about 3 years now and they pay me okay money. I could always use more money but I constantly contemplate if it's even worth it to leave because of how easy my job is right now.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • I work "full-time" and make about $75,000 basically doing nothing and working probably a total of 3 hours out of the 40 hours in a week. I scheduled some social media posts, recycle email marketing campaigns that we've used for the past few years, reply to a couple of emails a week, use Al to come up with new strategies, and basically scroll on Reddit / my phone for several hours a day.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • My boss is incredibly hands off and I am able to hit my KPIs by doing the absolute bare minimum. I get a very generous PTO policy and I probably take two plus hour lunches per day where I just run errands that I need to get done for my personal life which is quite honestly my priority.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • An employee working at her laptop in an open-plan office
    via Vitaly Gariev

    An employee working at her laptop in an open-plan office

  • I do not care to climb the "corporate ladder" anymore. All I want is to be able to live comfortably while working the least amount possible. Having been in the industry for almost 10 years, I should probably be making significantly more money but I don't want to leave for another job because I fear that a new job will require me to actually work.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • I have a performance review every year and this past year was probably the least I've ever worked and I still got outstanding performance appraisals across the board from my team and my boss.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • To me, working is not a priority in life at all. As long as I can pay my bills and live my life comfortably and be able to do the things that I like to do, I do not care what my job is and don't really care what they pay me as long as I can survive. To be honest, I now view work as a complete and utter distraction to my actual life. It is very inconvenient
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • that I have to go sit in an office 5 days a week for 40 hours. And I honestly do not know or understand how people who actually work for 40 hours a week get anything they need to get done in their life done. There simply is not enough time in the day or in the week to do any of my personal things like
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • grocery shopping, spending time with my partner, scheduling and going to appointments, working out, and hanging out with friends.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • If I was not able to get a bulk of my personal things done during the work day, my entire life after work would be me just doing things that I have to do rather than spending that time doing things that I want to do and enjoy.
    via Salt-Caterpillar-712
  • An employee wearing glasses as she works on her laptop in an open-plan office
    via Vitaly Gariev

    An employee wearing glasses as she works on her laptop in an open-plan office

  • Noell_Karen This is kinda the dream and I don't think you need to confess anything. You hit your KPIs, you got great reviews. The system is working as designed.
    via Noell_Karen
  • whateveratthispoint_ I'd find it aggravating to be stuck at work all day.
    via whateveratthispoint_
  • mikerichh Keep it going as long as you can. So many companies wear employees down to the point of burnout and don't pay them enough. You are lucky
    via mikerichh
  • MrWolf327 If I was you, I would avoid having written proof that your job is redundant and unnecessary
    via MrWolf327
  • SuperX_AtomicKitten Now just convince them to let you work remote and you'll be good to go!
    via SuperX_AtomicKitten
  • Overconfidentahole You're not wrong. That sounds like my dream job. It's not always about the rat race. Being comfortable and having a work life balance is much more important and you'll look back and be proud of yourself
    via Overconfidentahole
  • Particular_Buddy_165 marketing is a joke i always knew our marketing department did nothing all day long
    via Particular_Buddy_165

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