Okay Geek Farm
Study: wasting time online helps productivity in the work place
Okay Geek Team
Not all of us have a job that let’s us waste time. But then there are those who are lucky enough to sit behind a computer all day instead of working in the unrelenting sun.
For these priviledged few getting some legitimate work can be hard, especially with Facebook, Twitter, news sites, flash games, and Reddit away at just the click of a button.
Well, according to a recent study you don’t have to feel bad about your “time wasting” online, since it actually produces more productive employees.
During an annual meeting of the Academy of Management, some interesting information was shared to those in attendance.
The study conducted by the National University of Singapore concluded that after long periods of work time, employees who “cyber-loafed” (yes, they used this in their findings) were more productive after getting all their inhibitions of what’s going on in the internet out of their system.
“Chen and Lim report that participants in the Internet-browsing group were significantly more productive than those in the other two groups, highlighting a mean of 316 letter a’s, compared to 272 for the rest-break group and 227 for the control group; in other words, the Internet browsers were 16% more productive than the rest-break group and 39% more productive than the control group. In addition, compared to both of the other groups, the browsers reported significantly lower levels of mental exhaustion and boredom and significantly higher levels psychological engagement. ”
Not only that, but the study also went on to mention the negative effects of emails, and how it stifles creativity and productivity throughout the work day.
So the next time your boss catches you browsing through Reddit, simply shoot them an email with this article and the study’s finding to get yourself off the hook… maybe.
