Wasting Time Online = Higher Productivity

Workers are more productive when they are able to occasionally do non-work stuff online, researchers at the University of Melbourne have found. Dr. Brent Coker studied the habits of 300 workers and found that the large majority engaged in what he calls "Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing" (WILB)—surfing the Internet for personal reasons. But despite the common perception that such a behavior is a drain on employers, Coker says that these employees are able to focus better when performing tasks for work.

In his report, Coker said that 70 percent of workers engage in WILB, the most popular of which involved looking for information about products, reading news, playing games, and watching YouTube videos. "People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration," he said in a statement. "Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days work, and as a result, increased productivity."

Don't go thinking that you can now spend your entire day bidding on eBay auctions, however. Coker said that—like everything—WILB should be done in moderation. According to his research, those who surfed for less than 20 percent of their time at the office were more productive than those who don't by nine percent, but such productivity increases didn't apply to the Internet-addicted.

Coker's data casts a much more positive light on workplace Internet surfing than past reports. A 2005 report from Websense—makers of Web filtering and blocking software—claimed that Web surfing at work was costing businesses almost $200 billion per year (hmm, do you think those businesses could use some Web filtering software?). Then, network security firm Voco said in 2008 that 25 percent of people's work time is spent doing personal things online, and that most bosses are totally unaware of it.

Voco did point out, however, that while some employees perform illegal activities (such as downloading movies or music over P2P, not all personal Internet use was bad. "Is it more time-efficient to let staff do their banking online than having them leave the office for half an hour?" Voco consultant Paul Hortop asked. Indeed, for most people, being able to send off a quick Twitter update or check their Gmail helps them get little things done while taking a much-needed mental break. For this reason, Coker says that firms should reconsider spending millions of dollars trying to block employees from using social networking sites and watching videos.

Now that this article is done, I'm going to go tweet.

by Jacqui Cheng for Ars Technica

Further reading

• QuickTime video of Dr. Brent Coker discussing the study (500MB)
• Found via ReadWriteWeb: Shocking News: Scientists Say Workplace Social Networking Increases Productivity!