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April 12, 2009
Why goofing off boosts productivity (0 Comments)
Goofing off doesn’t sound good. Prolly “taking a break” is better.
Here are eight additional reasons why I think Internet slacking boosts productivity.
1. The subconscious mind keeps working.
Unlike physical labor, which stops when the worker stops, the mind keeps working on mental tasks when you’re not thinking about them. This powerful process of problem solving happens when you’re surfing the Web for fun, watching TV and especially while you’re sleeping (hence the phrase, “Why don’t you sleep on it?”).
Internet slacking helps this process by getting the conscious mind, which is prone to getting stuck or blocked, out of the way.
2. It gets personal things off your mind.
If you’re worried about your kids, or missing your spouse, or preoccupied with some pressing personal matter, you’re not going to hit all mental cylinders in your work. Social networking, Twitter and personal e-mail let you quickly get in touch with friends and family, find out what’s going on, then get back to work with full attention.
3. It builds work relationships.
Companies spend a fortune on lame team-building exercises and outings, which build work bonds only because everybody is suffering from the same forced interactions.
Social networking, on the other hand, can allow employees to build bonds at no cost to employers. Yes, people interact with family and friends who are not part of the company, but usually people interact with co-workers, too, and this can help build teamwork.
4. It converts real-time interactions into asynchronous ones.
A social interaction controlled by others (also known as an interruption) can devastate attention. I’ve found that a five-minute office “pop-in” by a co-worker can set me back the equivalent of an hour. This kind of concentration-shattering interaction is allowed — and even encouraged — in the workplace, while social networking interactions are frowned upon or even blocked. Why? Social networking interactions on Facebook and Twitter are, by definition, controlled by the user. They happen between, rather than in the middle of, bursts of focused concentration. They restore productive concentration without interfering with it.
5. It makes work more enjoyable.
People will hate their jobs if they have a strong desire to check in with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube during the day, but are blocked from doing so. If they’re allowed to wander online, on the other hand, they’ll be happier employees. And happy employees are productive employees.
6. It replaces bad slacking with good slacking.
If you think nobody ever wasted time at work before the Internet came along, well, you may also be interested in a bridge I’m selling on eBay.
People waste enormous amounts of time at work because of messy desks, inefficient processing of tasks, hallway chit-chat, long phone conversations and — the mother of all time wasters — meetings! All these activities look and even feel like work because they exhaust the mind and consume the hours.
Because people still have to meet their work objectives, deadlines and metrics for success, however, Internet slacking is likely to displace not productive work, but other (and lesser) forms of workplace slacking.
7. The Internet is educational.
Scanning blogs, RSS feeds and Twitter will inevitably introduce employees to wonderful time-management techniques, and stimulate the mind in other ways. (For example, this article you’re reading now could be professionally valuable to you in some way. But aren’t you supposed to be “working” instead?)
8. The mind will not be contained.
You can force an employee’s body into a cubicle or office, but you can’t force her mind to follow.
The human mind is a curiosity engine. Give it nothing to do but work, no way to satisfy curiosity or desire for social interaction, and it will rebel. More specifically, it will retreat into the daydreaming echo chamber. It will wander. It will seek ways to sabotage other employees (because that, at least, is interesting). It will employ its natural ingenuity to find ways to avoid work.
Complete article here.
I may agree that happy employee can become productive employees, yet it doesn’t mean that goofing off by visiting social networks (such seem to be an advantage as presented by the author) is often good. Out of these 8, only number 3 is applicable to me.
April 4, 2009
Podcast attempt! XD (1 Comment)
Joiz and I made a podcast at the wee hours of the night until 5AM. XD; Before you listen, please be reminded that:
- The podcast is full of nonsense *lol*
- Shabby was nervous thus the nonsensical talk XDDD;
- We’re conyows LULz~
- You have to forgive all the giggling
- It’s not suitable to play with huge, loud speakers XD;
I guess that’s it. The podcast isn’t that long, so I hope you can take the time to listen. It’s available for streaming at Joiz’s blog (password is hahahahaha). You can also download from here.
OT — Articles I thought y’all should read. There’s something wrong with the world and we gotta be aware of it. LULz~
PETA Killed 95 Percent of Adoptable Pets in its Care During 2008
The War At Home
October 17, 2007
Blog Action Day + anime figures (0 Comments)
Tsk, I missed Blog Action Day.
I wanted to share an article on American Photo. The title is “13 Ways to be a Greener Photographer.” There is also an article about “How Photography Can Save the Planet.” They’re great reads and the pictures are awesome too. Some animals were given sudden attention because of some photographers who show the wonders of the world and that there is a need to preserve them. Well, I could blog about them next time. I only feel that the post will be ignored because it would be posted on a NON-Blog Action Day. Get what I mean? ~_~
Having a hangover last week over Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, I was looking through different sites about reviews and products on the anime. (Btw, I just got chapter 1 of its manga.
) I found out that there might be a possible next season. This is the article from TheOtaku.com:Gainax’s uber-epic tv series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a mere smattering of hours away from its final episode– or is it? Gainax’s website offers a small sampling (a single image) from a project titled Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Shisen Genshikou. It’s not entirely clear to me what the project is just yet, but what IS clear is that it will take place in the same universe as Gurren Lagann. And frankly, that’s good enough for me! -Gia
I hope someone could give me more information about it. ^_^ Then I found this awesome Great Impact Gurren-Lagann figure:
The legs look like those old-skool mecha. ^_^V I feel tempted in getting this. But I should re-organize my room in such a way I could display all the mecha me and my brother got. ^_^ Then I could brag about my not-anymore-boring room. *lol*
That’s weird. The figure was only about $150 the first time I saw it.
The Yotsuba-chan figure was released just last September 27. ^_^ Heisei Democracy posted a lot of pictures of it. :DDD
She doesn’t look cute like puppies, pandas, or little babies, but if you read the manga you’ll understand why. ^_^ There are also more pictures at GA Graphic. I forgot from where I got to know of those sites.
September 8, 2005
TOKYO A-GO-GO/COOL TEENS IN HARAJUKU MAKE A FASHION ASSAULT FROM THEIR IMAGINATIONS (Comments Off)
To the list of site-specific fashion archetypes such as Parisian, Sloan Ranger, cowboy and California, it’s now time to add Harajuku, an area of Tokyo that is dominated by cool teens and those who want to be just like them. Or at least that’s what pop diva Gwen Stefani would have us believe. Her song “Harajuku Girls” praises the blindingly vibrant pedestrian street scene and the pedestrians’ ability to accessorize; lists bleeding-edge Japanese labels Super Lovers, Bathing Ape and Hysteric Glamour for the hipness impaired; mentions designers Yoji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, who’ve been cutting the edge for years; and sticks in a plug for her own clothing line, L.A.M.B. The only thing she doesn’t mention is the burning sweet smell of cooking crepes, Harajuku’s signature snack.
(Read more…)
