Journal of Psychosocial Research publishes Cyberloaf study

Everyone is partial to surfing the internet for personal reasons at work but a new study reveals that even the briefest amount of time spent doing this is wreaking havoc with our career goals.

Experts have coined a new term, cyberloafing, which means using time at work for personal interest – and say it’s damaging people’s career trajectory.

If you use your work time to online shop, flick through social media and generally cyber surf then you’re certainly guilty of cyberloafing. 

A new study published in The Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace found that overuse of the internet during work hours was a hindrance on productivity.

In the study, participants shared their cyber use to assess how internet consumption affected their behaviour.

The findings found that following the news, as well as online shopping, were the greatest hindrances to employee’s productivity.

Matthew McCarter, associate professor of management at The University of Texas at San Antonio,  also previously told Science Daily that cyberloafing is one of the biggest concerns to company managers due to the financial loss caused each year.

He discovered that around 14 per cent of a worker’s time is spent Cyberloafing and that each time an employee was disturbed by the internet it took them approximately 23 minutes to get back to work.

If you’re guilty of cyberloafing, career coach Evelyn Cotter, shared some advice with Stylist magazine.

She said: ‘Keep your focus on the value you want to add to your role and company as a whole, in line with your bigger career vision.’

Cyberloafing is one of the biggest concerns to company managers due to the financial loss caused each year