Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Surfing the Web at Work Can Actually Make You More Productive

The study was conducted by National University of Singapore researchers Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim. They gave students a task of highlighting the letter "e" in sample text for twenty minutes, then in the next ten minutes a control group of students were given a different simple task. Meanwhile, another group was allowed to do everything except surf the web during that break, and a third group could surf the web. Then all three groups went back to highlighting the letters.

The result, as you've guessed by now, is that the web surfers:
were significantly more productive and effective at the tasks than those in the other two groups and reported lower levels of mental exhaustion, boredom and higher levels of engagement.

Story at The Wall Street Journal.

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