Germany’s 40-hour work week vs India’s 70-hour grind: Indian man says one creates 'productivity', the other creates 'chaos'

Long working hours are often seen as a sign of dedication in many Indian workplaces. Staying online late at night, attending endless meetings and being constantly available for calls has become normal for many professionals. But an Indian man living in Germany has now shared how working fewer hours there actually helped him become more productive, saying the real difference was not hard work but the way work itself was organised.

The discussion began after Germany-based Indian professional Sahil Choudhary shared a detailed post on LinkedIn comparing his work experience in both countries. According to him, the biggest change after moving to Germany was not the amount of work, but the way work itself was managed and structured.

In his post, Choudhary said he now manages to complete more meaningful work in Germany’s standard 40-hour work week than he did while spending nearly 70 hours at work in India. “I push more work in 40 hours in Germany than I did in 70 hours in India,” he wrote.


Explaining the difference, he said workdays in India often became fragmented because discussions kept continuing throughout the day through constant follow-ups, repeated meetings and quick calls.

“In India, discussions were scattered across the day. Quick pings, follow-ups, ‘let’s sync again,’” he wrote.

According to him, meetings in Germany work differently. He said discussions are usually planned properly with a clear agenda and employees are expected to come prepared so that issues can be resolved in one sitting itself. “You come prepared, close the topic there, and move on,” he explained.

He suggested that this approach cuts down unnecessary back-and-forth communication and leaves more room for actual execution and focused work.

Focus time and fewer distractions

Choudhary also pointed to everyday distractions as another major reason productivity suffered during his time working in India.

He mentioned random office calls, gossip, social media scrolling and long chai breaks as regular interruptions that broke concentration repeatedly during the day.

“In Germany, we block ‘Focus time, DND’ on our calendars. People respect that and don’t disturb you,” he wrote.

According to him, respecting uninterrupted work hours made a huge difference because employees could concentrate properly without constantly switching attention from one task to another.


Many social media users agreed with this point, saying workplaces today often mistake constant responsiveness for productivity.

One user commented, “A lot of people wear long working hours like a badge of honour, when in reality it’s often just a sign of broken systems, constant interruptions and poor boundaries.”

Another person wrote, “The biggest difference is often not the number of hours, it is how protected those hours are. Clear boundaries, focused discussions, and uninterrupted work blocks change how much can actually get done during the day.”

Work-life boundaries play a role

The LinkedIn post also highlighted how office culture around working hours differs sharply between India and Germany.

Choudhary said that in many Indian workplaces, work rarely ends on time because someone is always available online or reachable over calls and messages. As a result, office work slowly stretches into late evenings and even nights. “In Germany, no one’s expected beyond their working hours. That boundary forces you to pace and prioritise,” he wrote.

He added that fixed work-hour limits leave little room for inefficiency and force teams to plan better. “I realised that I wasn’t working more in India, I was just working in chaos,” he remarked.

Several users echoed similar experiences and argued that productivity depends more on structure, clarity and uninterrupted focus rather than simply spending extra hours at work.