Routine Activities

10 differences and similarities between American and British daily routines

·       Lyndsey Reid

·       Mar. 28, 2018, 6:09 AM

How do the British compare to Americans?

·       Americans have a reputation for working longer hours than almost anyone else.

·       Surveys show that the typical American work day is 8.15 hours, compared to 7.42 for British people.

·       We analyzed the daily routines of American and British people to see how different they really are.

---

The daily grind is the same for most people. We wake up, go to work, come home.

But when it comes to the intricacies of daily life, have you ever stopped to think about how your daily routine compares with others around the globe and just how much culture influences your behavior?

Business Insider took a deep dive into the daily routines of American and British people to discover just how unique our approaches to work, life, and health really are.

Here's a taste of what the average day looks like on both sides of the pond:

Americans wake up earlier than British people

A report by Sleep Cycle found that the average wake-up time in America is 7:08 a.m.

In Britain, they hit the snooze button for another 27 minutes, finally getting up at 7:35 a.m.

Most of us make time for breakfast — though what we eat differs

Your mother was right — breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast has been proven to give you more energy, improve performance, and help with weight control.

According to Harry Balzar, a food industry analyst for market research firm NPD Group, around 80% of Americans eat breakfast before they leave work. In Britain, the figure is slightly higher at 83%.

In the US a study conducted by ABC News found the most popular breakfast cuisineis a bowl of cereal. Hot cereal like oatmeal came second, with bacon and eggs third.

In the UK, a consumer insight report found that a quick slice of toast is the number one option, followed by cereal, then eggs. And of course, it's usually always washed down with a cup of tea.

In the UK, commutes are longer

Even if you love your job, getting there can be a nightmare for many people.

A study by the University of the West of England found that long commutes can have an adverse effect on your wellbeing, reducing job and leisure time satisfaction, increasing strain, and worsening mental health.

Which must mean that American commuters, with an average commute time of 25.4 minutes, are slightly happier than British workers, who face a 29-minute commute each way.

In the US and the UK, 11 a.m. is the sweet spot for productivity

Peak productivity, it seems, happens at the same time during your workday, no matter where you are in the world.

A two-year global study conducted by project management software company Redbooth found that productivity among office workers worldwide is at its highest point at 11 a.m., and plummets completely after 4 p.m.

John Trougakos, an associate professor of organizational behavior at the University of Toronto in Canada, says the reason we're most productive in the morning is down to circadian rhythms, or our internal body clock, which tells our bodies when to get up, eat, and sleep throughout 24-hour cycles.

According to Trougakos, about 75% of people tend to be most mentally alert between 9 a.m and 11 a.m.

And a survey that looked into the the habits of 2,000 UK workers seems to agree with Trougakos' research, showing Tuesday morning as the most productive time for Brits.  

Perhaps it's no surprise that we get the least amount work done on a Friday, with Redbooth's survey showing a 20% drop in productivity across the globe.

Brits are more likely to take a lunch break

Most people who work in an office will, at some point, have eaten their lunch while sitting at their desk.

The "sad desk lunch" is a common occurrence in pretty much every American workplace, where it's estimated that only one in five employees eat lunch away from their desk, in spite of research that suggests taking a midday break is beneficial for productivity and creativity.  

Over in the UK workers are typically legally entitled to at least a 20-minute break away from their workstation, yet 54% of office workers admit to eating lunch in front of their computer.

A survey that looked into the most popular lunchtime food choices found that Brits regularly tuck into soup and sandwiches, while pizza is the common option in the US.

The work day is longer in the US

The average full-time employee in America puts in 8.15 hours a day, as reported in the 2016 American Time Use Survey data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average hours of work for full-time employees in the UK is 7.42, according to a report by the UK Office for National Statistics, which looked at data from October to December 2017.  

Happy hour is more popular in the UK

A survey from the temp agency Accountemps found nearly two thirds of workers and 57% of executives think productivity is boosted when coworkers are friends with each other.

While it may not be part of your job description to spend time with your colleagues outside of the office, after-work happy hours are a great way to socialize and build relationships — and it's something that 45% of UK workers do at least once a month.

Sharing a drink with your cubicle buddy isn't quite as popular in the US, with 21% of workers going for a drink with their colleagues.

Brits hit the gym more regularly

Whether you love it or loathe it, there's no denying the health benefits of working out.

Leading an active lifestyle and exercising regularly is one of the most important things you can do for your health, and the US Center for Disease Control guidelines state that we should be aiming for 150 minutes of physical activity every week.

But fitting in regular sweat sessions seems to be tricky for us all, with just one in three Americans and 61% of Brits achieving the recommended amount of physical activity a week.

  

British people also spend more time on leisure activities, too

After a long day at the office, you've earned a bit of downtown to relax and unwind. In the UK, Brits manage to carve out an average of 5.49 hours a day to spend on leisure activities, including watching TV, socializing, sports and hobbies. Americans spend 5.13 hours per day on leisure.

Across the board, the most popular way to relax is by sitting down to enjoy some TV.  The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Americans spend 2.73 hours every day watching the TV, while the UK Office for National Statistics places the British average at 2.17 hours.

And what's the most popular show to watch? Game of Thrones was the biggest show of 2016, which is hardly surprising considering both British and American audiences regularly watch TV dramas over any other genre.

In the UK, documentaries and comedy shows are the second and third most popular genre to watch, while in the US comedy and reality shows are tied for second.

  

Americans go to bed earlier

Time to do it all over again.

As reported by Sleep Cycle, the average American bedtime is 11:40 p.m. People stay awake slightly longer in Britain, finally climbing back into bed at 11:57 p.m.

Writing #2

Describing Graphs

General Instruction:

1. You need to write 3-4 paragraphs and 150 words.
2. Use formal language and don’t use personal opinion. Only write about the facts that you can see in the visual information shown to you. Do not add any background information
3. In the initial paragraph, you need to paraphrase the initial explanation about the graph.. Start the paraphrase with one of the following prompts,
• ‘The table shows/illustrates the trends in .... between .......
• The graph shows......
• The chart shows how the ..... have changed ......
4. Write an overview as your second sentence of your introduction. Look at the beginning and the end of the chart to help determine your overview.
5. Decide if the graph you are describing is a comparison, progression or both. You will need to use the appropriate language for each type. For example, if it is comparative, use ‘the same as’ or if it is progressive, use ‘ a slight increase’.
6. Change noun and adjectives phrases into verbs and adverbs to create a range of expressions, for example ‘a slight increase’ to ‘increase slightly’. Also, try to learn a few different ways to say the same thing so you don’t have to repeat yourself (‘increase’, ‘go up’, ‘rise’). Remember you will be marked on your language range and accuracy.
7. Describe the most general trends in second paragraph, including the most striking characteristics.
8. You need to add linker to help your essay with its cohesion and coherence; in other words, it’s flow. Here are some useful expressions: in addition, furthermore, however, although.
9. In the 3^rd paragraph you need to give a more detailed description. You still need to focus on main trends, but focus more on elements within each part of the graph (For 10 years, there was a gradual upward trend until it peaked at 250units in 2002, followed by a dip.). Add data to support your information.
10. Don’t describe all small details as this creates lists which sound mechanical.
• Instead of writing :It went up by 2% and then dropped up 5%, then rose again for 2 years, and again dropped by 2%.
• Write: It fluctuated between 5% and 2% for the first quarter of the year.
11. You don’t have to write a conclusion, but it makes the writing seem more complete if you do.
12. Don’t forget spelling and punctuation count towards accuracy.

 

Language of Change

As you can see, there are several examples of this in the graph, so it is important to learn how to use these correctly in order to successfully write a description of graphs. Here are some examples:

• gradually increasing
• a slight fall
• kept rising 
• reached a peak
• increased at a steady rate
• fell
• increased sharply
• a low of
• finish at
• stood at
• finishing the period at

You will need to practice this type of language, and also make sure you know a variety of structures to get a better score – if you keep repeating the same kind of phrases this will show you have a more limited range of lexis and grammar.

1.     Pie Chart

To begin, take a look at the pie chart below.

The pie charts show the main reasons for migration to and from the UK in 2007.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Example of Answer

The pie charts illustrate the primary reasons that people came to and left the UK in 2007.  At first glance it is clear that the main factor influencing this decision was employment. 

Having a definite job accounted for 30 per cent of immigration to the UK, and this figure was very similar for emigration, at 29%.  A large number of people, 22%, also emigrated because they were looking for a job, though the proportion of people entering the UK for this purpose was noticeably lower at less than a fifth. 

Another major factor influencing a move to the UK was for formal study, with over a quarter of people immigrating for this reason.  However, interestingly, only a small minority, 4%, left for this.

The proportions of those moving to join a family member were quite similar for immigration and emigration, at 15% and 13% respectively.   Although a significant number of people (32%) gave ‘other’ reasons or did not give a reason why they emigrated, this accounted for only 17% with regards to immigration.

(173 words)

Assignment #1: Describing a pie chart

The pie charts show the electricity generated in Germany and France from all sources and renewables in the year 2009.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

2. Bar Chart

Look at the characteristic of the chart –  if you are asked to compare the data as well, so you must also compare the elements where relevant.
You must also group data together to make sure you have a well organized and coherent answer.
To do this, you need to look for similarities and differences when you first analyze the graph for, and decide what can be logically put together or not.
Example:

The bar chart shows the number of times per week (in 1000s), over five weeks, that three computer packages were downloaded from the internet.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Example of Answer
The bar chart illustrates the download rate per week of ActiveX, Java and Net computer packages over a period of five weeks. It can clearly be seen that ActiveX was the most popular computer package to download, whilst Net was the least popular of the three.
To begin, downloads of ActiveX and Java showed similar patterns, with both gradually increasing from week 1 to week 5. However, the purchases of Active X remained significantly higher than for the other product over this time frame. In week 1, purchases of ActiveX stood at around 75,000, while those for Java were about 30,000 lower. With the exception of a slight fall in week 4, downloading of ActiveX kept increasing until it reached a peak in the final week of just over 120,000. Java downloads also increased at a steady rate, finishing the period at 80,000.
The product that was downloaded the least was Net. This began at slightly under 40,000, and, in contrast to the other two products, fell over the next two weeks to reach a low of approximately 25,000. It then increased sharply over the following two weeks to finish at about 50,000, which was well below that of ActiveX.

(Words 198)

Assignment #2: Describing a bar chart

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information in the graph below.

Write at least 150 words.

Items to learn:

1.     Finding and understanding information provided by graphs

2.     Understanding how to elaborate information

Indicator of completion:

1.     Able to identify characteristics of the phenomena.

2.     Able to make sentences describing the phenomena.

3.     Able to make write a short essay.

Benchmarking:

1.   1.   Write a report of a graph (if you have accomplished assignment #1 and #2, you can choose one of them) with minor grammatical mistakes (less than 3 items of mistake in an essay).

2.     2. Present the report orally.

Writing #1

How to Write an Essay

General Instruction

There are different essay types, and these will require different ways to answer them. However, as you will see from the guidance, they can all follow the same basic structure.

These are some of the types of essays you can get:

• Agree / disagree
• Discuss two opinions
• Advantages & disadvantages
• Causes (reasons) & solutions
• Causes (reasons) & effects
• Problems & solutions

Not every essay will fit one of these patterns, but many do.

You may get some of these tasks mixed up. For example, you could be asked to give your opinion on an issue, and then discuss the advantages or disadvantages of it.

The golden rule is to ALWAYS read the question very carefully to see exactly what you are being asked to do.

The second lesson explains more about analyzing essay questions.

How do I Write an Essay?

In order to answer this, lets first look at a sample question:

Write about the following topic:

In the last 20 years, there have been significant developments in the field of information technology (IT), for example, the World Wide Web and communication by email. However, these developments in IT are likely to have more negative effects than positive in the future.

To what extent do you agree with this view?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

The essay is structured like any other essay; you just need to make it shorter. There are three key elements:

1. Introduction
2. Body Paragraphs
3. Conclusion

We will look at each of these in turn, using the essay question above as an example.

1) Introduction

You should do just two things:

• State the topic of the essay, using some basic facts (that you may be able to take from the question)
• Say what you are going to write about

Here is an example introduction for the above essay question about IT.

The last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are affected by IT, with many advances in this field. However, while these technological advances have brought many benefits to the world, it can be argued that these developments in IT will result in more negative impacts than positive.

As you can see, the first sentence makes sure it refers to the topic (IT) and uses facts about IT taken from the question. Note that these are paraphrased - you must not copy from the rubric!

The second part then clearly sets out the what the essay will be about and confirms the writer's opinion (some questions may not ask for your opinion, but this one does).

2) Body Paragraphs

For a short essay, you should have 2 or 3 body paragraphs - no more, and no less.

For your body paragraph, each paragraph should contain one controlling idea and have sentences to support this.

Let's look at the first paragraph for the essay about IT. The essay is about the benefits and drawbacks of IT so these will need to be discussed in separate paragraphs.

Here is the first body paragraph:

To begin, email has made communication, especially abroad, much simpler and faster, resulting in numerous benefits for commerce and business. Furthermore, the World Wide Web means that information on every conceivable subject is now available to us. For example, people can access news, medical advice, online education courses and much more via the internet.  It is evident that these improvements have made life far easier and more convenient for large numbers of people and will continue to do so for decades to come.

The controlling idea in this first paragraph is the 'benefits of IT', and there are two supporting ideas, which are underlined. No drawbacks are discussed as the paragraph would then lose coherence.

Most of the essay will focus on the negative aspects of IT, as the writer says there are more negative effects in the introduction. So the next two paragraphs are about these.

The topic sentence in the next paragraph, therefore, tells us we are changing the focus to the negative points:

Nevertheless, the effects of this new technology have not all been beneficial. For example, many people feel that the widespread use of email is destroying traditional forms of communication such as letter writing, telephone, and face-to-face conversation. This could result in a decline in people's basic ability to socialize and interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.

The final body paragraph gives the last negative effect:

In addition, the large size of the Web has meant that it is nearly impossible to regulate and control. This has led to many concerns regarding children accessing unsuitable websites and viruses. Unfortunately, this kind of problem might even get worse in the future at least until more regulated systems are set up.

3) Conclusion

The conclusion only needs to be one or two sentences, and you can do the following:

• Re-state what the essay is about (re-write the last sentence of your introduction in different words)
• Give some thoughts about the future

Here is an example:

In conclusion, developments in IT have brought many benefits, yet I believe developments relating to new technology are likely to produce many negative effects in the future that must be addressed if we are to avoid damaging impacts on individuals and society.

The example of full-essay:

The last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are affected by IT, with many advances in this field. However, while these technological advances have brought many benefits to the world, it can be argued that these developments in IT will result in more negative impacts than positive.

To begin, email has made communication, especially abroad, much simpler and faster, resulting in numerous benefits for commerce and business. Furthermore, the World Wide Web means that information on every conceivable subject is now available to us. For example, people can access news, medical advice, online education courses and much more via the internet. It is evident that these improvements have made life far easier and more convenient for large numbers of people and will continue to do so for decades to come.

Nevertheless, the effects of this new technology have not all been beneficial. For example, many people feel that the widespread use of email is destroying traditional forms of communication such as letter writing, telephone, and face-to-face conversation. This could result in a decline in people's basic ability to socialize and interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.

In addition, the large size of the Web has meant that it is nearly impossible to regulate and control. This has led to many concerns regarding children accessing unsuitable websites and viruses. Unfortunately, this kind of problem might even get worse in the future at least until more regulated systems are set up.

In conclusion, developments in IT have brought many benefits, yet I believe developments relating to new technology are likely to produce many negative effects in the future that must be addressed if we are to avoid damaging impacts on individuals and society.

(287 words)

Assignments

Write about the following topics:
1. An increasing number of people are now using the internet to meet new people and socialize. Some people think this has brought people closer together while others think people are becoming isolated.
Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

2. Discipline is an ever increasing problem in modern school. Some people think that discipline should be the responsibility of teachers, while others think that this is the role of parents.
Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

3. As computers translate quickly and accurately, learning a foreign language is a waste of time.
To what extent do you agree?

4. The government is spending a lot of money to discover life on other planets. Some people think that the government is wasting money and should spend more money addressing the problem of public.
to what extent do you agree?