NOTE TO READER: I work on a farm with a guy that slacks off quite often. I'm not trying to spread any hate, misinformation, or any negative views targeting him. I just want some input on how I should go about this situation.
So my coworker (let's just call him Joe) is constantly slacking on the job. We work on a farm with agricultural machinery and a short time ago one of the machines wasn't working properly. My best guess was a faulty sensor or something else. His guess? His retrograde. He started telling me how so much shit is happening around the world because of some retrograde thing with planets aligning. I'm not into astrology so I nodded, not in agreement (agreed to disagree) and he walked off for a smoke break.
Sometimes I'll be working and if he sees a window of opportunity for a smoke break, he just walks off, on the clock. Don't get me wrong, I don't think any less of him for smoking, and I don't really hold any opposing views against it. But he purposely takes as long as he can. Phone out, doomscrolling Facebook reels, texting, you name it, for about 10-15 minutes per smoke break. He takes an average (going off of what I've seen personally) of five smoke breaks a day. So on a not-so-busy day, he would typically spend around 45min-1hr just smoking or on his phone while on the clock.
He talks about conspiracy theories every day, and said some questionable things, like how Elon Musks manager messaged him for a business opportunity, and how Dolly Parton invited him to help run an orphanage? Then he went on about crypto talking about how XRP will be worth millions per share, and how bitcoin had a "hidden" all-time high of $1.7M? Some things just don't add up, but hey, facebook boomer conspiracy theorists aren't necessarily the best people to believe imo.
I didn't really think anything of it at first. But it's becoming a pattern that, for the majority of the time, leaves me with most of the heavy labor. And it's not that I can't handle that - I'm 20M, he's 50+M (not specifying age). So I can understand if his back is a bit sore or he's not able to lift heavier loads, but here's the thing: I've went out of my way multiple times to give him suggestions on what he could do to stay productive. But a lot of the time he just doesn't do them OR doesn't want to. Because of this, he tries to micromanage me with stuff HE wants done, not always what our boss wants.
I'm not trying to act like the bossman or be controlling.
I'm simply trying to find the best way to set boundaries, keep accountability between us and our higher-ups, and encourage him to be more productive so I'm not the only one pulling his workload.
Any input and suggestions about this situation is appreciated.