Tech Distractions for Workers Add Up to Millions

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A new study says social networking, surfing the web and watching porn at works is costing companies millions each year. Yeah, because no one took long bathroom breaks, gathered by the water cooler or napped at work before the internet got here.

The study concluded: More than half of U.S. workers waste an hour or more a day on interruptions: 60% come from electronic devices and e-mails, while the other 40% come from traditional sources, such as phone calls or chats with colleagues.
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It's articles like this which make me think that reading up on the [H] is a bad idea at work.

But some of this is legitmate tech news! :D
 
"Yeah, because no one took long bathroom breaks, gathered by the water cooler or napped at work before the internet got here."

Except that, now, it's in ADDITION to, and not instead of.
 
What? you need that report today? but I have to collect cranberries and corn to finish my goal in cityville.
 
what about multitaskers? i am on my feet almost all day many days, while walking from one floor to another...i drop in on my favorite sites...i have no problem with this
 
its inevitable for most desk jobs to have some periods of down time so spending time not working is not always wasting your employer money.
 
Gee, I wonder if the study included all the hours we spend outside of "normal work" fielding calls and emails in their assessment. Stupid.
 
what about the hours stuck in traffic? maybe if we have better infrastructure we can be more productive.
 
I don't watch porn at work! My coworkers do. I'm just watching them watch porn...

Wait...

I mean...

Oh look! Ceiling cat!
 
I don't get it why people watch pr0n at work. Learn some self control...

Other than that, I agree with Steve - Don't think anyone could expect you to be 100% busy working all 40+ hours a week. Sometimes you need a break to clear your head, get some perspective, talk to someone else about a problem, or whatever.
 
The company I work for is actually easing restrictions on internet browsing. They're pretty cool about everything. Starting to take a "don't muzzle the ox" approach.
 
I probably waste 2-3 hours per day, however, I also get more done than most people who don't waste any time on the internet. I'm a "burst work" type, and most of my users appreciate that about my work style. 3 of my last 4 bosses have noted it, told me about it, and let me know it's ok. (That one that didn't appreciate it also had to do without my help after a short time, and he paid for it. He stepped down from being a manager less than 4 months after I left.) It's not waste, per se. it's just different work styles. Some people do work slowly over a long period of time and others get burned out of they do nothing but work. Real leaders in management understand and appreciate this.
 
dgingeri said:
I probably waste 2-3 hours per day, however, I also get more done than most people who don't waste any time on the internet. I'm a "burst work" type, and most of my users appreciate that about my work style. 3 of my last 4 bosses have noted it, told me about it, and let me know it's ok. (That one that didn't appreciate it also had to do without my help after a short time, and he paid for it. He stepped down from being a manager less than 4 months after I left.) It's not waste, per se. it's just different work styles. Some people do work slowly over a long period of time and others get burned out of they do nothing but work. Real leaders in management understand and appreciate this.
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There's a third classification out here, those that bust ass all day. They don't stand around talking BS for an hour and then decide to do something. They get as much or more done in a day as the other types you described but they don't come across as being a lazy ass. What about when the client is making a visit and they see you standing talking for an hour about a TV show? I see it everyday. A group of people standing around half the day. In their mind they are "burst workers who get more done in four hours than others in eight". Truth is they could perform better.
 
We all can perform better. But... does it pay?

The only thing that would happen if I tried to be more productive is that my co-workers would do less and I would do more. But we would keep earning the same amount.
 
Steve said:
A new study says social networking, surfing the web and watching porn at works is costing companies millions each year. Yeah, because no one took long bathroom breaks, gathered by the water cooler or napped at work before the internet got here.
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All those pauses may or may not influence on productivity. You know, social chatting on work is even good sometimes (productivity wise), there are tons of studies about that.
 
Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?

Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now.

Bob Slydell: I beg your pardon?

Peter Gibbons: Eight bosses.

Bob Slydell: Eight?

Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.
 
nobody_here said:
There's a third classification out here, those that bust ass all day. They don't stand around talking BS for an hour and then decide to do something. They get as much or more done in a day as the other types you described but they don't come across as being a lazy ass. What about when the client is making a visit and they see you standing talking for an hour about a TV show? I see it everyday. A group of people standing around half the day. In their mind they are "burst workers who get more done in four hours than others in eight". Truth is they could perform better.
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yeah, and I've done that because the job demanded it, The boss was a real hard ass micromanager. I burned out on the job in 3 months. In 4 months, I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, breaking a total of 6 teeth. After 6 months, I spent a week in the hospital because of a suicide attempt because I was so stressed out. The guy who took over my job while I was in the hospital slit his wrists in his cube a day and a half in because he was so stressed out. The woman that took over after that quit on that Friday. I came back Monday and worked for a week, then quit and moved back to Denver. (All we were doing was answering the phone for support calls, all 120-130 per day, with a mail server that would go down daily and an AS/400 that would go down 2-3 times a week, and everyone's job was absolutely dependent on both.) I'm not going through that again. Those jobs are absolute hell.

I still get more done than most, and am able to solve more problems faster than the vast majority, and I'm satisfied with that. Any job where there is nothing but work is not worth having. Any company that demands that out of their workers need to make robots to do it because human beings are just not built to take that.

Any good leader knows he or she is employing human beings, knows the ups and downs of that, and knows how to get the best out of his or her people.

Studies like these just make bad managers use the whip even harder. (Notice I did not say leaders, because types like these aren't leaders, they're slavedrivers.) They make many jobs even more miserable. You'll notice that the Japanese businesses are losing their edge lately, while driving their people even harder. the people are burned out and don't like their jobs, so they aren't giving their best efforts. You only get the best out of people when they enjoy what they are doing, and sometimes that means a little distraction time once in a while so they don't burn out.
 
Hmm, and "efficiencies" done throughout industries that have the average worker doing what was three peoples jobs now for less purchasing power that one wage earner got 30 years ago do not somehow counter this a bit?

PLEASSEEEE! :rolleyes:

The distractions are about all that's left that will save those workers' sanity.
 
The majority of the "wasted" time in my day is:

Responding to emails I'm randomly CC'd
and
Attending boring meetings
 
FrozenLiquidity said:
It's articles like this which make me think that reading up on the [H] is a bad idea at work.

But some of this is legitmate tech news! :D
Click to expand...

Actually I think it is. My boss ask me tech questions and I'm on top of it because I'm familiar with the latest news and hardware.

Tech sites also made me aware of the possible shortages of laser printer toners due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and caused me to order a bunch to avoid being ripped off later (toner factories recovered for the most part, but I'm good on toners for a while at least, lol)

But yeah there are other sites out there that are legitimate distractions from work - [H] Genmay, Facebook and so on.
 
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