# How true is the saying: Time to Lean - Time to Clean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711 "2025-10-06T01:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/21 "2025-10-06T17:14:10Z")
Like most jobs, those that say this want to punish efficiency. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/22 "2025-10-06T17:16:45Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > in my experience, the managers also seemed to be concerned about (a) not letting the customers see employees standing around shooting the shit, and (b) exerting control. Yeah, this is a huge part of it. Patrons are often waiting on service, so they don’t like to see people lounging around, even if that person isn’t directly serving them. Owners are paying staff, so they don’t like to see them idle. Managers are sensitive to both of these factors, and they also enjoy exercising control. So, no leaning. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/23 "2025-10-06T17:30:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Most of my jobs have been salaried, and i always felt that screwing around when i didn’t have anything much to do was offset by staying late to meet deadlines Yeah, this is how I looked at it. And considering all the unpaid OT I put in, by the time I retired the balance really was in the company’s favor. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/24 "2025-10-06T20:48:26Z")
There’s a particularly lonely store I go to occasionally. It’s a franchise convenience store. Never have I been in the clerk wasn’t engrossed in her phone or iPad. I’ve patiently waited many times while she clicked off. Added together, all these seconds are quite a few. Oh noes, I’ve lost a whole half a day of my life. I’ll never get back. Think I’ll be ok. Really. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/25 "2025-10-06T21:02:55Z")
If, through efficiency, you get the job done better and sooner, will you get rewarded with less work? Hell, no! What usually happens is that your supervisor says “ Since you have that extra time, I’ll just give you more to do.”. Sometimes you can almost hear them add “_Sucker!\*”_ Under their breath. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/26 "2025-10-06T21:08:57Z")
I’ve never heard this term, but I certainly tried to live by it when I was in my retail career. I did it for myself as much as anything. If things are clean, I’m less likely to be yelled at, and also it feels better to work in a neat space. These days in IT, there is no time to lean. I’m always trying to get to whatever the next priority is. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/27 "2025-10-06T21:16:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH, I’ve _almost_ never had a job where cleaning was an inherent part of my duties. Back in college I TA’d at a computer “lab”. Back in the day when that was first a roomful of keypunches and later green-screen dumb terminals. When not helping students we emptied trash cans, keypunch chads, rearranged misplaced chairs, etc. You’re somewhat older than my son (b. 1967) but when he TA’d in the computer lab and when he had no customers he studied for his own courses. The other thing he did was send email and email to the McGill CC asking them to open email to the rest of the university. After a couple months of this barrage, they did. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/28 "2025-10-06T21:20:07Z")
The other thing employers seem to despise is workers sitting down between customers, even when it would be the work of a second to stand up again. As someone who has been overweight my entire adult life and had flat feet from the start, this was particularly hard. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/29 "2025-10-06T22:19:52Z")
I sure spent some of my free time on my own studies. But certain elements of room maintenance were on the official list of duties. So I did them. As we transitioned from keypunches to green screens the clean-up work shrank considerably. No chad bins to empty, no keypunch supply hoppers to refill with fresh unpunched cards, most program output was seen on the student’s screens, not in voluminous printouts that were quickly scanned for errors then equally quickly thrown in the overflowing trash cans, etc. Congrats to your son for his successful pressure campaign. If there were any such opportunities to improve the university where I was, I sure didn’t notice or act on them. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/30 "2025-10-06T22:50:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t agree. People need some rest. Even outside of their scheduled work breaks. If someone has time to lean, that can often just be well-deserved extra rest, not time to clean or do some other task. Especially for the kind of work that elicits that phrase. Restaurant work is exhausting. Same for retail or anywhere else you have to be on your feet. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/31 "2025-10-06T23:02:06Z")
Way back when I was an HR assistant, we ran into a period of time where the HR assistants had almost nothing to do. So, in a way, I did start to clean. I went through all of our EEO-1 forms, some of them dating back to the late 1960s with some employees identifying themselves as “Negro,” and when that was done I organized a lot of files. I still didn’t have anything to do, so I took it upon myself to start learning more about benefits, employee relations, etc., etc., and asked my supervisor if I could start helping other people with their projects. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/32 "2025-10-06T23:41:34Z")
It might amuse you to know that when he got a summer job with the McGill CC the following summer his supervisor mentioned to him that he was the #1 source of email from outside Canada to McGill. He would write home several times a week. He is a long-retired Microsoft millionaire. Now an empty nester. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/33 "2025-10-07T05:07:22Z")
I had a guy say this to me. I replied, _“Why you leanin’ on me? How bout cleanin my Bung-hole wit yo tounge?”_ And, yes. I got a better job shortly after. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/34 "2025-10-07T05:30:52Z")
That scared the hiccups away. Thx so much. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/35 "2025-10-07T17:29:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not unlike the “side work” waitstaff in restaurants are expected to do. Restaurants, particularly fast food places, is where I’ve heard this the most. Kitchens almost always need something cleaned, and there are minimum health standards to meet. The real question to me is, “How easy is it to clean?” If I’ve got to go get a bucket and mop, mix hot water and cleaning product, and all that, that’s not happening in a two minute lull in the lunch rush. And if I’ve done the simple stuff, like wiping the counter with a washcloth, there’s not much more else to do in that time. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/36 "2025-10-07T18:23:01Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The real question to me is, “How easy is it to clean? They don’t really want you to clean; they just want you to look busy. The cleanest place in the joint is wherever you can see the TV from. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/37 "2025-10-07T20:07:13Z")
On the subject of cleaning, I’ve rued how hard it is to get edges and corners clean, and wondered more than once why tile companies don’t make curved tiles to fill in those spots. It sounds easy enough. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/38 "2025-10-07T20:13:13Z")
They do make that. I’m sure of it. I’ll look see if I can find a cite. I’m talavera tile person. So I’m used to the grooves and inconsistencies. The island in the kitchen is granite. Absolutely no way to keep it completely wiped perfectly. One grimy kid hand print or one bag of chips opened. Messy again. Hate, hate, hate it. The tile counters and back splash make me much happier. Let’s not discuss bathroom tiles. Please. I may lose it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/39 "2025-10-07T20:14:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’ve rued how hard it is to get edges and corners clean, and wondered more than once why tile companies don’t make curved tiles to fill in those spots. Because they’re E-vil, and like to laugh themselves to sleep each night with images in their heads of people down on their knees, trying to get The Perfect Clean with toothbrushes and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711/40 "2025-10-07T20:27:12Z")
B&[Wtile.com](http://Wtile.com) Makes all kind of curved tile. It seems it’s very _retro_ and folks are asking for it. So there will be more. I bet you could buy them at a commercial builders supply. Seems like I’ve seen it in hospitals and hotels. Maybe even a public restroom. Yep you can get them. (I blurred because they don’t pay me for advertisement) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-true-is-the-saying-time-to-lean-time-to-clean/1023711.md?page=3)