In our business we would very quickly fold up the tent if two rituals didn't happen: people starting their days with our paper in the house and people working through their days with our newsroom's content on their desktops.
Traffic patterns for almost all news sites indicate strong interest during the workday, which raises the notion that it might just interfere with productivity.
But a new Australian study suggests occasional workplace online activity actually improves productivity. The study found 70 per cent of workers engage in Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB), but that it helps keep people focused.
"People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration," the report author said. "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."
The key is moderation. Spending less than 20 per cent of your time online made you nine per cent more productive than those who didn't, but the Internet-addicted crowd were not more productive.
OK, back to work.
