Do you spend your working hours sending personal emails, shopping online or surfing Facebook? You’re not alone, a recent survey by Salary.com shows that six out of 10 employees in the United States acknowledge wasting time at work. But some experts say private Internet use at work does not affect productivity and could be beneficial, by allowing employees to save time.
Does surfing at work help or harm your job performance? Have your say….
For the unapologetic slacker, here are some additional ways to waste time.
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14 comments so far
I am not cyberslacking. I am forced to work unreasonable hours (more than 11 a day) at minimum wage, in a corporate culture that does not have any common sense. I am just doing what I would otherwise do at home if my boss had more intelligence, and would see that to keep its staff motivated you either have to pay them more or make them work less.
- Posted by Peter GardenI also do not feel I am cyberslacking, although my employer may feel differently. I work in a remote office with no superior, get paid much less than I am worth (I have a graduate degree), and the amount and type of work I am given from the home office is severely below my abilities.
I feel it is worthwhile to spend my free time increasing my awareness of what is happening in the world… That is why I am at reuters.com instead of some other site.
I start a new job next month… Hopefully the new challenge will curb my ‘cyberslacking’.
- Posted by AaronI try to keep my attention on the work at hand. I’m a web developer so I do a lot of web searching for solutions to problems and whatnots. Sometimes I get distracted, I wouldn’t say it’s to the point of slacking though. Some days I just don’t want to do the boring work and I think about slacking. Uhh, am I slacking by adding a comment here?!? Yipes! Better get back to work…
- Posted by MThe “I am not cyberslacking because I’m too smart for this job” argument doesn’t fly. You should be doing what your employer is paying you to do. Your employer didn’t force you to take a job that’s beneath you. That’s your problem. If you don’t want the job you have…get a better one. If you don’t want to do the work you’re being paid for…stop signing the backs of those paychecks!
- Posted by BrianI absolutely “cyberslack”. Brian, GET A LIFE first of all. we are human. no working robots. I work in an office where the work they give me, a 10 year old could do. i work 10 hour days, but finish my work in 5. i do what is required and i answer the phone when i need to. I entertain myself in the meantime with new, forums, and the occasional game.
- Posted by Lydickif your doing a job that is below you i feel it does lead to cyber slacking. maybe not all circumstances apply to this but for example i worked for a college for about 5 months developing a portion of thier website. once i was hired and given my time frame and what they needed done, i laughed. they gave me 2 weeks of work to do over a 5 month period.. how can i not “cyber slack”. no for someone this may have acutally been a 5 onth project, but i totaled about 16 days a actualy work to get it done. the rest of the time i played wow, and actually did other peoples work.. in some cases taking a job that is below will leave you with nothing to do but slack..
and yes i am cyber slacking right now
- Posted by dThanks Brian for the classic and well-worn “grin and bear it” philosophy about work. God forbid someone point out a flaw, a problem, a situation. Maybe they can fix some of it — but let’s face it, one cannot often do much about inept policies or obstructionist thinking -like yours.
- Posted by JeffBrian, get back to work and stop cyberslacking. As for me, I cyberslack because I can. If my work does not want me to do so, then deny sites that allow me to shop, check sports, personal email, etc.
- Posted by EricI must have the best job in the world. I’m paid to cyberslack. Or perhaps that’s a tautology?
- Posted by Nic Fultonyea, I slack, so what?
^5’s Brian.
- Posted by SlackerInMIchiganAm I slacking right now? Yes. Do I have anything else to do? No. I sit in an office all day after I’ve completed the small amount of work for that day and wait for something to do. Time killer for me. Can only vaccuum the floor so many times to make the day pass. The other option is sleeping and I know that’s not allowed. I can see instances where the slacking would be harmful to productivity, but I can also see a lot of jobs where it keeps the employees from going insane with boredom.
- Posted by Christinei cyberslack because lets face it, i can and i have the time. my employer knows it but as long as i do my job and do it well, they don’t mind it. my boss plays bubble breaker on slow days herself. (we work in a conference center) however, one of our peers was fired for visiting gay porn sites a few months ago. i also don’t think they mind me reading reuters!
- Posted by ClaudeIMHO, nothing wrong with surfing if it doesn’t affect your work. On the contrary, surfing helps increase alertness and reduces sleepiness, my theory of course
- Posted by Five Times[…] Are You Cyberslacking? Click here. - Reuters Blogs 10 Ways to Cyberslack - Reuters News (do these guys ever actually work?!) Don’t Let Your Boss Catch You Reading This! - PC World Are You Banned from Social Media Sites At Work? - BBC Radio Online […]
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