Way too many Americans work from the toilet. One survey of a 1,000 Americans, both men and women, found that three quarters of them are on their smart phones in the loo. An astounding 38 million people have said that they have shopped while on the can.
Writing in Slate, Brigid Schulte points out that countries with shorter working hours and more paid vacation beat us in GDP per hour worked, so we don't need to work in the bathroom.
The 11Mark IT in the Toilet survey found that 20% of men and 13% of women admit to making work-related calls while doing their business. Really? TMI. Ick!
The point is, toilet habits have changed as societies have changed. In the ancient world, toilets were often a place for socializing, as high-status men sank their tushes into communal marble toilets with as many as 36 seats. European kings—and famously, LBJ—conducted business on the throne while doing their business, a sign more of their power than their drive to be productive, writes Bob Cromwell, a Linux coder and self-proclaimed Toilet Guru. (He runs a quirky eponymous website on everything you never knew you wanted to know about toilets.)
You really want to check out toilet-guru.com. It's a great site.
Schulte encourages us to put the device down then next time we take a seat.