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."

Sounds like the opposite

[richardellisjr]

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.

Bludging?

[SlashDotDotDot]

The title of TFA is:

Workplace web bludging 'good for productivity'

allwords.com [allwords.com] tells me that "to bludge" is to avoid responsibility. What a great word. Is it used outside Australia?

Re:Hurray! I've been saying this for years!

[cromar]

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 [justbento.com] for recipes. If you enjoy food, investing time in learning to prepare what you like can be massively rewarding!

Re:Sure

[TurboNed]

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.

Re:Sounds like the opposite

[Anonymous Coward]

I worked for a company like this. Or actually I still work for them. Their problem was that they *were* running a factory. They just made the mistake of treating their office workers the same way as their factory workers.

So when I got sick of working in that environment, and told them where they could shove their industrial-economy employee regulatory scheme, they fired me. I refused their severance offer, along with any help in training a replacement. Now they pay me more money to do the same work from home. The extra time for reading Slashdot is just icing on the cake.

Re:Hurray! I've been saying this for years!

[fractoid]

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. :)

Re:Hurray! I've been saying this for years!

[codeButcher]

chocolate milk, toaster strudle and Pillsbury Mozzarella and Pepperoni Savorings..." Occasionally I'll order tacos, pizza or ribs..

No wonder you feel like a lethargic slug.

Re:Bludging?

[Anonymous Coward]

The title of TFA is:

Workplace web bludging 'good for productivity'

allwords.com [allwords.com] tells me that "to bludge" is to avoid responsibility. What a great word. Is it used outside Australia?

No. It is a word that is peculiar to Australia. It's part of the "Strine" (Australian language for you uneducated clods!) vocabulary, although, given the number of Aussies in London, you would probably have heard it there. IIRC, it was also used in the "Dundee" movies which were released in the US and the UK some years ago.