According to Reuters, surfing the internet at work may make us more productive.

The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not. 

Study author Brent Coker, from the department of management and marketing, said “workplace Internet leisure browsing,” or WILB, helped to sharpened workers’ concentration. 

“People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration,” Coker said on the university’s website (www.unimelb.edu.au/) 

“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,” he said. 

According to the study of 300 workers, 70 percent of people who use the Internet at work engage in WILB. 

Among the most popular WILB activities are searching for information about products, reading online news sites, playing online games and watching videos on YouTube. 

“Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos, using social networking sites or shopping online under the pretence that it costs millions in lost productivity,” said Coker. “That’s not always the case.”

I guess it depends on a lot of factors, but I think an hour or 90 minutes of surfing might help me do more for just that reason.  My company blocked internet mail (so I can’t get to gmail from my work network), I use Facebook now to communicate with friends, which is far more distracting.  I also use my work email for things I would never have in the past.

Via the jerkstore.