---
title: "Startup Invents Uncomfortable Toilet to Boost Productivity"
description: "British startup StandardToilet has designed a toilet that’s intentionally made to be uncomfortable thanks to its 13-degree slope. The goal is to make it too uncomfortable to sit on for prolonged periods of time, motivating innocent office workers to get off of Instagram and back to their desks.  "
date: "2019-12-18"
modified: "2019-12-18"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-uncomfortable-toilet-boost-productivity"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "capitalism"
  - "the digest"
  - "toilets"
  - "work"
---

# Startup Invents Uncomfortable Toilet to Boost Productivity

![British startup StandardToilet has designed a productivity toilet that's intentionally made to be uncomfortable thanks to its 13-degree slope.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/uncomfortable-toilet-sloping.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pxhere/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Poop Limit

British startup StandardToilet has designed a toilet that's intentionally made to be uncomfortable thanks to its 13-degree slope, [according to *Wired*](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/battle-toilet-workplace>). Sitting on it for more than five minutes is reportedly unbearable.

The goal is to make it too uncomfortable to sit on for prolonged periods of time, motivating office workers to get off of Instagram and back to their desks, or to free up public bathroom stalls.

## Five Minutes

The toilet was met with derision.

"Let's destroy StandardToilet and all who work there," [wrote](<https://twitter.com/flashgordonston/status/1207356037092786177>) one Twitter user.

"Say goodbye to comfort breaks!" actor Dave Vescio wrote in a [sarcastic tweet](<https://twitter.com/DaveVescio/status/1207028149873082368/photo/1>). "They say the main benefit is to employees in improved employee productivity."

## Throne Room

The toilet costs anywhere between $200 and $650. The company is already in talks with local councils and major motorway service stations to distribute the toilets, according to *Wired*.

“\[Its\] main benefit is to the employers, not the employees," StandardToilet founder Mahabir Gill told *Wired*. "It saves the employer money."

**READ MORE:** [The corporate poo patrol is coming after your precious toilet time](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/battle-toilet-workplace>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on toilets:** *[15% of Deforestation Is Due to Toilet Paper Alone. Here’s How We Can Fix This.](<https://futurism.com/category/climate-change-energy>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)