The term “cyberloafing” is rooted in the understanding of using the Internet for personal purposes. Since watching a 2-hour movie at work and playing games together aren’t appropriate, it’s the only way to use social media.
Indeed, scrolling through news feeds on Facebook, liking stars on Instagram, and transmitting a dozen pictures from a weekend picnic to your office from your phone doesn’t make a fuss, doesn’t bother anyone, and doesn’t annoy anyone. Except for the boss, who worries about productivity, productivity, and other new trends.
So, is cyberloafing good or bad, helpful or harmful
Cyberlink: the benefits
So, what’s the benefit of distracting yourself with social media while you’re working? It’s pretty noticeable!
The reasons why cyberloafing is beneficial:
- It has a positive effect on psychological well-being and mood.
- It helps switch between routine tasks, the deck gives the brain a rest and a reboot.
- It increases the activity of the temporal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for long-term memory.
- It stimulates creativity and creative thinking.
- Note, it improves concentration.
- Increases efficiency.
Let’s be clear, the impetus for a lot of research on social media and the benefits of “distraction” prompted American and Israeli scientists to investigate cyberloafing as a coping mechanism: for combating boredom in the workplace (“Cyberloafing as a coping mechanism: combating boredom in the workplace”) [S. Pink, A. Kraychevsky, P. Spector, 2018]. They concluded that cyberloafing could potentially serve a positive function by helping employees cope with boredom in the workplace.
A total of 463 university employees participated in the study.
Cyberlofing: the harms
Cyberlofing begins to take up all the time allotted to study or learn, which will not end well.
Social media use data:
- More than 4 billion people worldwide use them.
- Every day the number of SM users increases by about 2 million.
- The average user spends about 15% of their “waking life”.
- In the last year, SM adoption has increased by more than 12%.
Do these numbers mean that all of these people are negatively influenced by SM? “Let’s go back to researching how social media affects our mood, sleep, mental health, and relationships.”
The potential harms of cyberloafing:
- Anxiety and stress if you prefer aggressive content, bad news, and discussions about topics you can’t objectively influence.
- If you constantly compare yourself to others and tend to believe everything you see on SM, this is the reality of the human psyche, your accomplishments, achievements and diminished self-esteem without changing the function of decorating yourself in photos using Photoshop.
- Bad moods and dissatisfaction with life as a consequence of the previous two points.
- Insomnia and other problems with sleep if you “sit at the computer” late.
- If all your friends are completely virtual, and your online content stopped reading regular books, listening to live music, admiring wildlife, not just pictures of landscapes on the Internet.
And even when considering the potential harms of cyberloafing, one very important point cannot be overlooked: the identity of the content consumer.
It is up to you to choose whether you will connect with people you like, support and cheer each other on or engage in discussions about politics, economics and pandemics. It’s up to you whether you’ll be jealous of her next stylish outfit or be happy for the star, how that dress or that suit suits her.
Cyberlifting and efficiency – how to balance:
For every hour you work, you should take a five- to 10-minute break to rest. Be sure to find content that helps you relax personally. Favor soothing content.
How can I use the Internet to my advantage?
- Online continuing education courses. Provided, of course, that your basic work is done well and on time.
- By specialty, e-books and audiobooks.
- Answers to questions you had during your studies.
- Professional communities. As you study these materials, you can also step back from your current tasks to learn what your colleagues are experiencing in other countries, regions, and companies.
- Learn a foreign language.
- Develop soft skills or non-professional skills.
I think you now seem to have an idea of how to use cyberloafing for the benefit of yourself and your business
