Slashdot Mirror
Australian Study Says Web Surfing Boosts Office Productivity
Hugh Pickens writes "Dr Brent Coker, professor of Department of Management and Marketing at Melbourne University, says employees who surf the internet for leisure during working hours are more productive than those who don't. A study of 300 office workers found 70 percent of people who use the internet at work engage in Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB). 'People who do surf the internet for fun at work — within a reasonable limit of less than 20 per cent of their total time in the office — are more productive by about nine per cent than those who don't,' said Coker. 'People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration. Think back to when you were in class listening to a lecture — after about 20 minutes your concentration probably went right down, yet after a break your concentration was restored. It's the same in the workplace.' However, Coker warns that excessive time spent surfing the internet could have the reverse effect."
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I'm increasing my productivity right now!
I can't read this story. there is an ad in my way.
Really boss, I'm just becoming more productive fer ya.
Insightful and funny are really the same thing, except one has a punch line.
boosts my productivity!
Lets see 20% of time surfing gets you 9% more productivity. So anyone surfing for 8% of their time gets a productivity boost, everyone else gets a productivity loss.
Well browsing slashdot does seem to pass the time while I wait for my project to compile.
"Australian researcher's lab shut down by MPAA."
I'm sure my boss is going to be thrilled since he's looking over my shoulder reading this page as I type comments instead of doing my work.
Switch to surfing porn. It will make him even happier!
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
I also promote in-office online banking and other personal business but the company balked when I suggested catered meals would also boost productivity by lowering stress levels caused by having to go out and forage, and the health benefits of not wolfing down food. Another company agreed with me and even hired a masage therapist because they found lowering stress levels among employees caused the biggest spike in productivity.
I bet a little web surfing keeps one from getting "too bored". A recent article in the same vein said that doodling helps people pay attention--I don't recall whether that one made slashdot.
A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
Hmm... gotta get back, done compiling.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
...and there are studies that say a short nap during the workday make people more productive. Now who here has an authorized nap time at work?
Depending on what the employee is viewing, it is also an opportunity to LEARN something.
My wife regularly surfs the web at work, often news, and consistently finds stories that directly effect the industry she works in, sometimes her actual place of employment. She then brings this information to the people she works for, the people that need to know about it.
I am going to print that article and put it on the wall next to my desk so that next time I don't have to use the "code is compiling" excuse.
Everybody who works from home?
They just said that 20% of your paid time, doing something other than what they are paying you to do, is reasonable? Would a company paying you 20% less all of the sudden be reasonable? If you are getting paid, STFU and get the work done. If there's no work to do, clock out and go home.
If taking a cigarette break, coffee break or gossip break is allowed, I cannot see any difference in internet break or game break.
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
Compiling.
I'm sure it is for just about everyone reading this.
The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
I'm SOOOOO glad this didn't come out yesterday.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
.... also include surfing for pron?
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
I don't know. xkcd.com disagrees.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Workplace web bludging 'good for productivity'
allwords.com tells me that "to bludge" is to avoid responsibility. What a great word. Is it used outside Australia?
/...
I'm much more inclined to believe that the people who have above-average productivity can afford to spend up to 20% of their days surfing the internet.
...and there are studies that say a short nap during the workday make people more productive. Now who here has an authorized nap time at work?
I can't say it's exactly 'authorized' but no one stops me when I roll under the desk and take a quick rest. Mostly they laugh.
Qxe4
I am so asking for a raise.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I'm just here to boost my productivity.
We need to commission studies that look at increases in productivity for the following activities during work time:
1) Games and gaming at work
2) Consumption of alcohol at work
3) Coming to work in casual clothes - the more casual the better - think underwear and curry stained shirt
4) Workplace sex
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I'm much more inclined to believe that people with above-average productivity can afford to spend up to 20% of their time surfing the internet.
They did the same thing where I work but went further by adding a free "Happy Ending." The plan backfired as productivity decreased and sleepiness increased. However, absolutely no was was stressed out.
Posting anon because the wife reads slashdot.
that I'm helping to get my work done right now!
If you work a 40 hour week. 20% a day would come out to 8 hours a week, or a whole day.
Does that mean I would still be more productive if I worked hard 4 days a week, then spent all of my Friday reading slasdot and playing games?
"I don't have to think. I only have to do it. The results are always perfect, but that's old news." - Meat Puppets
I would rather call it Workplace Internet Browsing for Leisure, otherwise known as WIBL.
"Hey Tony, I need you to collate those TPS reports."
"Yeah sure boss. Right after I get done wibbling a bit."
I think this should be filed under the general maxim that happier workers are, generally, more productive workers.
Plus, so many jobs now expect you to be working to some extent while you're at home (checking email, etc). If an employer wants an employee to work while at home, then it's reasonable for the employee to do some personal web surfing at work.
Silver Clipboard: Time Management Tips
Some source was quoted in the Newsweek I was reading the other day as saying that 25% of people view internet porn at work.
(This surprised me. Slashdot? Sure. Wikipedia? Definitely. Porn? That's just stupid.)
Now who here has an authorized nap time at work?
Just close the door to your office and lock it. If you're woken by knocking or telephone, you have a moment to gather your composure before opening the door. It works for me!
What? You labour in an open-topped fabric-covered doorless half-height cube? Good god, that's barbaric!
by having to go out and forage,
You do know people can bring their own lunch to work and not have to forage? It saves bundles of money for the person and they know exactly what they're having. This also allows them more time to surf the web at lunch or maybe go out and have a walk around the building or get a quickie around the corner.
I realize this is a simple solution so obviously you're a programmer! (j/k)
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Perhaps people who browse the web at work are _more comfortable with_ and _more knowledgeable about_ computers in general, than people who don't browse the internet at work. I've seen many users who are clueless about computers wasting time by using their computers badly, unproductively, or not at all.
If you can't use a spreadsheet, chances are you don't 'get' the internet. I'm wondering if perhaps the study is drawing the wrong conclusion. Perhaps internet browsing isn't the 'cure', but a healthy symptom indicating a better affinity to computers.
Does this mean I can stop fiddling with the log files now?
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
...and there are studies that say a short nap during the workday make people more productive.
My wife and I work in the same department, and occasionally take a "nap" together in a spare office. Curiously, this seems to reduce the productivity of our colleagues, who often look annoyed after our "nap".
Now who here has an authorized nap time at work?
I do. That is, I effectively do.
Ok, you want the truth? Nobody knows the difference.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
the sound of one hand fapping!
I would suggest that rather than websurfing increasing productivity, people tend to leave authoritarian employers who disallow websurving, productive people having more ability to move.
I, for one, can vouch that a 20-minute session with a young female masseuse in a skimpy outfit can do wonders for releasing pent-up tension and increasing productivity. I, for one, will welcome our new young-female-masseuse-in-a-skimpy-outfit overlords.
What? You labour in an open-topped fabric-covered doorless half-height cube? Good god, that's barbaric!
Sheer luxury mate. I work in a hole in the road, it's a twenty mile commute on foot in the dark and thirty back. My father fed me stone cold poison and killed me every morning before work.
But can ye get the lads to believe you these days? Noooooo.....
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Switch to surfing porn.
WILB for MILF?
It may be that bright-minded, sharp, intelligent, high mental-energy, people are already prone to being more productive, and that searching for ideas and information is just part of their wiring. Of course the information and stimulation help feed the process. OK, back to work...
If I find another person using a calculator and "plugging in" the answers in Excel I don't know what I will do!
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Spaniards?
What do you think my after work is like?
1. Go home, collapse on the couch like a lethargic slug until my energy from being forced to "sit still" and "pay attention" all day returns.
2. By that time it's late into the evening and I have limited options. So, i'll either forage in the refrigerator, "Dinner tonight, hmm... chocolate milk, toaster strudle and Pillsbury Mozzarella and Pepperoni Savorings..." Occasionally I'll order tacos, pizza or ribs... depending on how slug-like I feel... but Thurdays are useless.
The exception is if I'm seeing my fiance, trekking an hour and a half to her city to eat at Olive Garden and/or getting a hotel room (she has no privacy with her child at home and we are quite noisy), then doing the drive back. (Incidentally, the next day I do bring my lunch... Olive Garden leftovers...)
3. Watch a movie or TV show or play a game on PC, Gamecube or DS until it is late... then sleep
Where in that schedule do you see time to make food to bring to work?
Please, define "labour". There is precious little "labour" or "labor" performed in an office building, with or without office doors. Perhaps I should post the scientific definition of "work" here. Some slashdotters actually do "work", in one form or another. Some of us may resent the allegation that serious "work" is performed in these cubicles. The only cubicle guy I can think of with a legitimate claim to be "working" is a welder. Well, maybe the pipefitter who sets things up for the welder...
I had a boss that would have balked at the 20% figure. He believed (and told us as much) that you were wasting company time and money if you were anything less than 100% engaged in your work. He was, however, always interested in boosting productivity any way possible, so when someone brought up Google's "personal project time" policy (Google was the rockstar of the Internet then, even moreso than now), he wanted to try it. Once we started seriously discussing it, though, the boss killed the idea by proclaiming that the personal project time would be in addition to, not replacing your normal 8-hour day. That means you either had to come in early, stay late, or come in on a weekend. And it wouldn't count as overtime either. That pretty much killed all interest.
(Posting this at work, from my new job.)
I hear sandwiches are pretty easy to make ;-) Seriously though, if you do some research on cooking, you will find 15-20 minute recipes for lunchtime. Of course, if you don't know how to cook, it might take you a while to get up to speed. Some of my recomendations though are: energy bars, left over spaghetti w/ sauce, imported ramen (actually has some nutritional value sometimes), hard boiled eggs, veges w/ dip, chips, juice boxes/soda cans, hummus, leftover meat left in a marinade overnight. You can get a slow cooker and have rice/beans ready for you in the morning to take to work. If you want to be a little more creative you could take a look over at Just Bento for recipes. If you enjoy food, investing time in learning to prepare what you like can be massively rewarding!
Anyway, gotta go, it's nearly time for another break.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
I might be talking out of my ass here, but the most intellectually productive worker segment (single young heterosexual males) never pack their own lunches.
As a business you are really better off doing what the casinos already do: insulate your cash cows from the "real" world by free catered meals, artificial lighting, on-campus recreation facilities, etc.
I've done both. Believe me, the people who get stressed out by "foraging" will get at least twice as stressed out trying to find time to throw together lunch to take along. Sure it's no big deal for the morning people who get up an hour before they need to, but for the night-owl types, there is never a good time to pack a lunch.
The only time I pack a lunch is when I'm *really* short on funds. Most of the time I'd rather pay 4x as much and eat unhealthy food that I can pick up over lunch.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
What? You labour in an open-topped fabric-covered doorless half-height cube? Good god, that's barbaric!
No, I share one with 3 other people.
Why did you post in a monospace font? What the fuck is wrong with you?
My last boss only got upset if we didn't share the good porn with him.
I drank what? -- Socrates
Today is April 2nd!
I started using the free time management software from RescueTime.com a few months ago and have found that it helps keep me from venturing too far off track during the work day. I had previously been using a small app built by the Software Jedi (my hero! I still use it for making my time cards), but it is buggy and lacks any real analysis features (still not bad for being built in one day).
I was planning on building a bunch of macros and pivot tables in Excel for it when I ran across RescueTime, which is free for personal use and actively being developed. It keeps track of all the websites and applications you use on your computer and sends this data to their servers to let you tag each item as productive or not-productive. From all this tagging you get a bunch of pretty pictures saying how much time you spend working and how much you waste reading web comics or Slashdot. They even have a flash widget you can add to a blog. Haven't tried the Team edition yet, but it has definitely helped me keep from wasting too much time.
From Michael Scott, "Jim Halpert. Pros. Smart, cool, good looking. Remind you of anyone you know? Cons. Not a hard worker. I can spend all day on a project and he can finish the same project in a half an hour. So that should tell you something."
Anecdotally, I am more inclined to believe that people who are more productive can slack off more. At my previous job, I would often do more work than my colleague and still found plenty of time to slack off, because I knew how to do the work quickly and correctly. He meanwhile, would be busy all day, and was doing less work than I.
Some companies require you to take paid 15 minute breaks. I always figured it was for the people that smoked. They actually are to make you more productive. I guess management does have some good ideas once and a while.
Move to Spain.
Take a couple of hours off for lunch, every day.
And yet other EU colleagues want them to work 9-5 :(
1 workday less 20% for surfing => 0.8 workday
0.8 workday + 9% extra productivity => 0.87 workday
1 (without internet) > 0.87 (with internet)
Of course, the catch is that the increase is not just 9%...
We do actually have a small dark "quiet room" with beanbags at Stardock.
By his match the productivity gain doesn't outweigh the loss.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
is if you get your work done. This is influenced by a lot of factors. But in the end you Boss should not need to analyse your Web usage to determine if you do a good job. If he needs, he is not the right man for the job.
What? You labour in an open-topped fabric-covered doorless half-height cube? Good god, that's barbaric!
It is, it's terrible. It's also pretty dang good for communication, I've worked in an office before and I hated it. What, you prefer to rely on email or IM (or intercom, yuck) for *all* the times you need to say "hey bob, could you check in foozballwidget.dll please?" Unless you have the luxury of being the sole maintainer of a system, your job probably requires you to frequently talk to people, which is easier of you have LoS on most of the office.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
Sheer luxury mate. I work in a hole in the road, it's a twenty mile commute on foot in the dark and thirty back. My father fed me stone cold poison and killed me every morning before work. But can ye get the lads to believe you these days? Noooooo.....
We were evicted from our hole. We had to live in a shoebox in the middle of the road. Every morning we'd lick the road clean with our tongues, drink a half cup of hydrochloric acid, and our father would slice us in two with a bread knife and sing glory hallelujah.
http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/four_yorkshiremen.htm
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
one of the better semi-trolls.
It absolutely does, and the lack of easy facilities for this probably hits out GNP.
But Most places are required to give you a half hour (even unpaid) break, so just take your car and leave, and master the 25-min nap.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I knew there was a downside to being allowed to use Python...
there is no god but truth, and reality is its prophet
Let me tell you my secret recipe - this one is easy enough that I used to make it when I was single, and tasty/nutritious enough that my wife asked me to make it for dinner last night. ;)
:)
:)
You will need:
Two packets of Indo Mie mi goreng
Two eggs
A medium-sized onion
A tomato
A small can of mushrooms in butter sauce
Whatever else is in the fridge
Butter
Heat a small pot, add about 1/2 Tbsp butter. Crack two eggs into the pot and scramble. When eggs are mostly solid, add chopped onion and tomato, along with whatever else (meat, other veggies, leftovers) you find in the fridge that looks like it'd go well. Cook for 3-4 mins, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften. Add mi goreng noodles and flavouring to the pot along with the can of mushrooms. Add around 1 cup boiling water, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
Note: This concoction generally *looks* pretty iffy, but it tastes fantastic and isn't too bad for you healthwise. It's also brilliant hangover-cure food.
P.S. Your point (1) in your after-work story is the problem. The reason you feel bodgy is the mismatch between brain-tired and body tired: When you get home from work, instead of collapsing, try to get 20-30min exercise. Go for a bike ride, jog, do weights, whatever. Not only will it kickstart your stagnating metabolism, but (I find) a bit of exercise really cuts down your desire for greasy food and alcohol afterwards.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
...and there are studies that say a short nap during the workday make people more productive. Now who here has an authorized nap time at work?
1. Open your Bible/Koran/Torah/Sutras.
2. Close eyes.
3. Nobody will bother you, although you may get invited to someone's church/temple.
P.S. I'm not a
Assume someone normally produces 100 widgets. a 9% increase in productivity would mean 109 widgets.
Even with the extra 9 widgets, if you've been screwing off for 20% of the time you're only producing 80 widgets, or 89 with the increased productivity.
Get back to work, slackers.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
I have a strange feeling tree pussy doesn't mean what I think it does.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
I worked in a place with authorised nap-time. By "authorised", I mean nobody told the boss.
sudo make me a sandwich
I'm a software engineer and I've used a spreadsheet maybe 5 times in my life. I hate to sound like Bender here, but most everything in life is a degenerative form of programming, especially spreadsheets.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Not to show off, but here at Google we have exactly that. It's pretty refreshing, I can tell you that. On the other hand, here I am, at 11pm... just another day at the office.
It's spelt "quiche".
----
Don't "Whoosh" me; I know what I'm doing.
That 'Fences' program looks suspiciously familiar. How will that fare when KDE finishes full Windows support?
Our target audience is not exactly the type to install something like KDE on Windows, or anywhere.
No wonder you feel like a lethargic slug.
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
A short 20 minutes nap OR a cup of coffee. Now who hasn't coffee at work ?
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Everyone at Google :)
This also allows them more time to surf the web at lunch or maybe go out and have a walk around the building or get a quickie around the corner.
I know quite a few people who would skip both lunch and web surfing to get a quickie around the corner.
I want to found the SAUA (Society Against Useless Acronyms)
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
How does that roll off the tongue? "So if you could just go ahead and stop wilbing, we need those reports by noon." "After a 40 hour wilbing marathon, wilber wants to kill himself." "Wilb pizza wilb TV wilb sleep."
It could be that those of us that are good at our jobs get our work done more quickly. That leaves more time for leisure browsing because there's nothing else to do.
I can say [REDACTED] anytime I want!
In my experience, the only guys who like this arrangement are the ones that are constantly asking "Hey bob, could you check in foozballwidget.dll please?" as loudly as possibly, just when I've gotten into the zone working on some problem*. ;)
* - Doubly annoying if you find out it already was checked in
Throw the bums out!
What? You labour in an open-topped fabric-covered doorless half-height cube? Good god, that's barbaric!
It's not that bad; it has free internet!
He said authorised.
The study may have only revealed that people who are productive have more time to waste on leisure internet surfing.
Rerun the study using only those who were more productive and were internet surfers. Assign one group to a difficult computer task and restrict internet access and assign the other group to the same task, but do not restrict internet usage.
Then we can see if the inernet truly helps our productivity. I doubt www.boredatwork.com is a real productivity booster.
These findings are way too basic!
Several studies show that exercising at work boost productivity. So I say bosses should make their employees surf exercise videos on youtube. Or try Break Pal
So you were in a mixed office where YOU had your pet project to work on, and everyone else was working on shared projects? Lucky you, it's much easier working on solo projects where the source isn't being modified under you.
If you have so much trouble concentrating, I suggest a portable music player or noise-canceling headphones.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
Half of spain and latin america, and look what wonders that does for their economies!