You call it time theft, I call it work life balance. If I'm struggling with a problem, sitting on my ass for 5 hours is not going to make the solution come qui

You call it time theft, I call it work life balance. If I'm struggling with a problem, sitting on my ass for 5 hours is not going to make the solution come quicker. Going for a walk, playing video games, or calling somebody are a great way to recharge, and as long as I'm not blocking anybody or producing worse output, it's a net plus over time for productivity. In return, I'm happy to throw in a few extra hours in the evening or over the weekend if I suddenly have a breakthrough, but I'm doing that on my terms. The team cohesion part can be a real issue, but defaulting to asynchronous communication can really help here.