[phphphphp]

You’re describing what I’d understand as productive time: if someone says they’re not being productive, I interpret it to mean there’s zero value to be derived for their employer from their activities. For example, being asleep or browsing Reddit or watching YouTube videos…

When I say I’ve only been productive for 20 hours in a week, I don’t mean I spent 20 hours programming and 20 hours in meetings, I mean I spent 10 hours programming and 10 hours in meetings. I’d be surprised if most people only count programming time as productive time! If you’re doing 40 hours a week of programming + meetings + support + any other needle-moving things, you’re more productive than I’ve ever been in a job.

[vsareto]

Being available is still useful to your employer on some level. Even if you are watching videos, you can close it the minute you get a ping that needs your attention.

The only completely unproductive state is if you're doing nothing for your job and also refuse to respond to communications.