"Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us," authored by Basex analysts Jonathan B. Spira and David M. Goldes and released Dec. 19, claims that interruptions from phone calls, e-mails and instant messages eat up 28 percent of a knowledge worker's work day, resulting in 28 billion hours of lost productivity a year.
The employer
Just how big of a number is 28 Billion? Consider that there are 8760 hours in one year and if you lived to be 75 years old that equals 657,000 hours. That is just a small fraction of that 28 Billion hours lost each year. Think about how many times a day you are interrupted by an email, instant message or phone call. How many of those are really work related?
The employee
What about the things you do online that are not work related? Online shopping, reading a newspaper online, playing an online game, instant messaging with family or friends; all of these take time away from your work and cost your employer money. Would you steal a computer from your employer? I hope the answer is no, but when you spend time online doing personal things unrelated to business you are stealing from your employer. What about the ethical issue of being paid for personal activities? If you were the employer would you be willing to pay your employees for these activities? Maybe you are dissatisfied with your work or employer and feel that this is time that is owed to you.
There are so many different digital distractions that often times it seems like nothing gets accomplished. There are many articles about personal use of the corporate/work internet, see this article on Power Slackers. Of course there are always two sides to every story. Here is an article on how a little slacking can increase productivity.
How do you view your online activity while at work? Does it make you more productive? Do you feel like you are stealing from your employer? Or is this a perk of the position? Are you reading this while at work? Let’s hope you are at least on your lunch break.
1. Communication Overload Makes Office Workers SAD. June 3, 2004 pNAPR Newswire. , p.NA. Retrieved May 31, 2009, from Academic OneFile via Gale:http://find.galegroup.com/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=AONE&docId=A117618658&source=gale&userGroupName=regis&version=1.0
2. Garrett, R., & Danziger, J. (2008, 2008 Annual Meeting). Gratification and Disaffection: Understanding Personal Internet Use During Work. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, Retrieved May 31, 2009, from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
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