Lockdown confessions – working in pyjamas tops list

Working in pyjamas, having a weekday lie in and lying about lack of internet connection to avoid video calls are among Brits’ top ‘lockdown confessions’.

A study of 2,000 adults found 78 per cent admitted to a minor naughty slip up this year. In fact, the average person has committed seven misdemeanours each, with 13 per cent admitting their naughty behaviour has increased in the past 12 months.

This included cheating during a virtual quiz (16 per cent), giving their housemate a dodgy haircut (17 per cent) and using someone else’s Wi-Fi without permission (18 per cent).When it comes to working from home, more than a fifth admitted to staying in their pyjamas all day and 19 per cent slept in when they were meant to be working

A further 16 per cent fibbed about their internet connection to avoid having to be on a virtual call, and almost one in 10 accidentally walked onto a call while dressed inappropriately.

The research, commissioned by Tesco, found that despite such confessions, 43 per cent agreed that after this year no one should feel guilty for doing small naughty things.

Says Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer at Tesco:

“2020 has seen the nation adjust to new ways of living, working and shopping, which has led to some less than perfect, but perfectly understandable, behaviour.

“As we enter the festive season and begin to reflect on the year gone by, a quarter of us have confessed to feeling guilty for these minor slip-ups.”

The study also found a tenth of parents admitted to avoiding subjects they felt they were bad at during homeschooling. And more than a third of the nation purchased more items than they needed when shopping.

It was the year of baking trends and 15 per cent confessed they ate too many slices of banana bread and more than one in 20 killed their sourdough starter.

More than a fifth admitted they have done a little mischievous thing in recent months because they saw someone else doing the same. Those most likely to encourage naughtiness were found to be partners (35 per cent) and friends (15 per cent).

It also emerged that almost three-quarters of adults polled via OnePoll believe as a nation we need to hear light-hearted stories this year with Christmas adverts being one of the top ways.

Adds Alessandra: “At Tesco, however, we believe Christmas is all about spreading joy and this year, we’re encouraging everyone to forgive themselves for their naughty slip-ups.” 

Top 20 lockdown confessions according to Brits:

1. Wearing the same pair of jogging bottoms a few too many times
2. Buying more household items/groceries/toiletries than needed at that moment in time
3. Leaving washing up in the sink for ‘someone else’ to do
4. Working in their pyjamas
5. Having a lie in when they were meant to be working from home
6. Forgetting their friend or relative’s birthday
7. Giving their housemate (including partner, family, child, friend, other) a dodgy haircut or style
8. Taking salt, pepper, sauce or sugar sachets from a café or restaurant
9. Sitting in their car purely for peace and quiet from family or housemates
10. Cheating on a virtual quiz with friends or colleagues
11. Eating their children’s treats, chocolate and sweets
12. Fibbing about how much exercise they were doing
13. Using the last of the loo roll and not replacing it
14. Turning the TV channel over when someone else was watching something
15. Buying the last item of a product in the supermarket when they didn’t really need it
16. Eating a bit too much banana bread
17. Staying in bed all day while working
18. Only dressing in work attire from the waist up while working from home
19. Making out their internet connection wasn’t working to get out of a virtual meeting
20. Changing their background to a filter to hide that they weren’t really working from home (e.g. working from the park, beach, etc)