According to almost 59 per cent of staff surveyed the ‘Monday morning blues’ no longer exist.

Monday morning between 10am-12pm is the most productive time of the week for office workers, according to new research. The poll into levels of productivity and the causes of time wasting in the offices of the country’s small and medium sized businesses picks apart the myth of Monday being the hangover day of a heavy weekend.

According to almost 59 per cent of staff surveyed by Viking the so-called ‘Monday morning blues’ no longer exist as that is the busiest and most productive day of the working week. Between 10am and 12pm was cited as the most productive time on a Monday because everyone ‘felt fresher’ than at any other time.

Around 40 per cent said that this was because this was the time of fewer colleague distractions and conditions for working were at their optimum.

More than a quarter of office workers said IT problems, such as computers and printers breaking down, had a negative impact on their productivity. And a further 26 per cent blamed their boss’s poor management and leadership for falls in productivity.

John O’Keeffe, Commercial Director at Office Depot, parent company of Viking, said: "The idea that we all dislike Mondays and little or no work is done does not seem to be the case in a modern small business. The research has shown that people feel more productive and fresher on a Monday morning. It would seem that from Tuesday onwards distractions that impact on productivity seem to start creeping in more and more."

Friday was the lowest output day, apart from mechanics, 25 per cent of whom felt the last day of the working day was the most productive.