When you're sitting at your computer, do you work all day without a break? Or do you allow yourself to become distracted (分心）now and again ... to open a few extra tabs, check social media, read a bit of news, keep up with the latest fashion trends, and maybe catch up on some celebrity gossip.
Stop! You're 'cyberloafing'. This word is a combination of cyber which means 'related to computers', and 'loafing', which means ' relaxing in a lazy way ' .We do it, and we do it a lot. A study from the University of Texas suggests we are guilty of this form of procrastination (拖延）for 14% of our working day. On a Friday afternoon, I expect it's more than that.
I'll admit to losing myself in cyberloafing. In fact, I've already done it in the course of writing this story. Okay, more than once. It can damage your productivity and even your career because according to the University of Texas research, each time a worker gets distracted by the Internet, it takes an average of 23 minutes to get back to work.
More than that, cyberloafing has a dark side, according to a report published in The Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. It argues that cyberloafing is connected to several negative personality qualities. People who cyberloaf are more likely to be selfish and tricky.
Why do we do it? For some, it's most likely an escape from what they're supposed to be doing. Others might get a feeling of satisfaction from finding a great deal online.
When you have the whole world of the Internet at your fingertips, it's hard to resist.
How do we solve this problem? If you can truly ask yourself why you are cyberloafing, then that can help identify the base problem. And if that sounds like too much hard work, you could just switch off the Internet for a couple of hours!
So, in the meantime, let me just close those extra tabs.
