Modern Buddy

To those who work in an office environment; how much time do you spend a day surfing the internet that's not work related?

For example: surfing ModernBuddy, Facebook, reading newspaper articles (MSN, Yahoo), checking personal email, paying bills etc etc. I'm not talking about the time you spend chit chatting in the hallway or lunchroom either. It's obvious when people are doing that. I'm curious as to how many folks (& for how long) then go sit back at their desk and surf the internet.

Is it now the accepted norm that surfing the internet for entertainment is ok and/or do employers just not monitor that sort of thing so people do it because they are not told to stop?

I've only worked for one employer in my 17 years in the workforce (10 yrs in production & latest 7 in an office) so I haven't been exposed to different office environments. But from what I have observed, both at my work and from various online forums and from friends, it's no big deal to surf the internet when at your desk.

I often wonder how much more productive the American work force would be if there wasn't the internet. Or more realistically, how much smaller the work force would be because it would take far fewer people to accomplish the same amount of work if people didn't spend X minutes per day surfing the internet.

Your response would be appreciated. And be honest!

Working a fairly new (but freelance) gig and very busy, so my web time has plummeted.

There are actually studies showing that recreational browsing during work hours can help increase individual productivity. I'm old enough to have been working before the Internet at work. I must admit, I have no recollection of how we got anything done back then. May be senility.

I am self employed and creative so I am capable of frittering away incredible amounts of time in the name of the creative process. So maybe that can't truly be considered wasting time. I also go for long scoots in the name of the creative process. Now that definitely is not time wasted...

I think I would get less good work accomplished if I didn't waste so much time (figure that one out )

No comment.

Being a teacher at a community college it really depends on if anyone comes into my office hours. Near test days I would say I spend 0 minutes surfing the web, on most other days I spend my office hours surfing the web. Sometimes it is work related (surfing math ed websites) but sometimes its just hanging out on this forum or reading the news. I do have to say I wish I had a reason to spend less time during office hours surfing the web, unfortunately, no matter how much I remind students that I'm available, they just don't seem to come in for help

I have a tendency to be at work when I don't have to be (at 7 AM rather than at 7:45) and as I am a teacher I am able to use my free periods rather *freely*

Still, I take a lot of work home as well... grading is often easier done at my dining room table. I think it balances out overall.

I'm self employed so my boss is fairly liberal about how I allocate my time. To say it a different way, when I'm surfing - I'm not working.

My employer subscribes to "Lean Six Sigma" so every moment of our day is spent performing Standard Work and making little tic marks so that our work at the end of the day will be calculated to determine individual productivity. "Unscheduled down time" must have a specific, documented reason and you had better be able to provide some kind of support for it.

I usually spend breaks, lunch, if there is any leftover "Administrative Time" on the forum, but I don't count that because that is not "work time"

-v

I'm a salaried employee. That means the work needs to get done and I don't get paid any more for it taking 10 hours instead of 8. If I fritter time away by perusing the internet it only adds to the amount of time I will be at work. So, I don't surf much. At times I need a mental re-boot and will take 5 to 15 minutes to surf. As a matter of fact I am at work now, I've been here for 5 hours and need that re-boot.

Skootz Kabootz wrote:I am self employed and creative so I am capable of frittering away incredible amounts of time in the name of the creative process. So maybe that can't truly be considered wasting time. I also go for long scoots in the name of the creative process. Now that definitely is not time wasted...

I think I would get less good work accomplished if I didn't waste so much time (figure that one out )

oops

ericalm wrote:Working a fairly new (but freelance) gig and very busy, so my web time has plummeted.

There are actually studies showing that recreational browsing during work hours can help increase individual productivity. I'm old enough to have been working before the Internet at work. I must admit, I have no recollection of how we got anything done back then. May be senility.

We spent our down time trying to bang the secretaries. Now we have blue balls and way too much trivial information floating around in our heads.

Damn the intrawebs, damn them to hell!!!

At previous office jobs I'd say I spent 1-3 hours surfing the web most days. It sounds like a lot when I write it like that, but honestly I always get my work done and meet deadlines. I've always been exempt (salaried) in my office jobs so I work extra when I need to but I make sure I'm at the office during normal office hours to handle any situations that might arise whether I'm really busy that day or not.

Most of the small employers I've worked for don't mind some internet access at work. I now work for a larger employer and personal internet time is frowned upon outside scheduled breaks and lunch, but not forbidden. For me, sometimes a quick mental break is much needed as my job is extremely analytical.

I view the act of surfing the net at work as my capitalistic duty.

I'll explain:

The goal of every business is to maximize profit. This can be accomplished by increasing productivity, or increasing prices, or decreasing costs. My company has chosen the third approach, and has implemented it by eliminating raises and their 401(K) matching contribution for the last two years. The compensation garnered by the executive board has, however, successfully bucked this trend, and mightily so at that. (Big surprise, no?)

As a good capitalist, my goal is also to maximize profit, which, in the case of a salaried employee, can be defined as salary received divided by hours worked. Since the numerator has remained constant, the only logical choice is to decrease the denominator.

This approach is related to Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" theory of economics, and is called the "Invisible Middle Finger Corollary".

Nice one, Charlie.

Personally I am the ONLY one at work who does not surf the web on the clock. I mean, come on, how important is it really to check your facebook and forums every 10 minutes? How about doing what you're supposed to do, then when you get home, do whatever the heck you want? It only bothers me because the people who spend half their time on the internet and are half as productive as me still make more money than I do. How does that work?

p.s. this should be in the double-entendre thread.

Gee, I'm a Detention Officer at the local 600 bed county jail. If I screw off at work it's (literally) my ass! Also, don't have the interwebs here...

--Keys

Self-employed craftsperson. I'm getting much better at resisting the lure of the computer when I'm supposed to be working than I used to be.
I allow myself to surf for a few minutes on my stretch breaks (studio's downstairs, computer's upstairs). I watch one episode of something or other on Hulu halfway through the day when my injury forces me to put my feet up for a while. Most episodes are either 25 or 45 minutes long, so forgetting to set the timer isn't a problem anymore.

I am salaried and was told it is about getting the work done by the scheduled end date, not how many hours one works. The senior staff compliments my work so readily already and if I did give more than my current 75% level of effort, I'd just be given more work to do which is not as appealing as it may seem.
It is akin to taking a siesta in the middle of the day to re-energize oneself methinks. Plus Stumbleupon is just so darned addictive.

KRUSTYburger wrote:Personally I am the ONLY one at work who does not surf the web on the clock.

This doesn't apply to all people who goof off on the job, or for all job situations, but I've had a couple that were so boring or frustrating that the only way I could cope with them was to periodically give myself something interesting or enjoyable to focus on instead.

Two jobs ago I worked at a tv station and my job was to edit all the video for the morning news. There was a lot of down time while I waited that was spent watching tv, knitting, reading, and surfing. I had to be there for a set time period so as long as my job got done no one cared. (also when you worked overnights there where no managers.) I used a theory similar to charlies to not feel guilty about not working.

My last job I was a temp in an office and internet surfing was also tied to how busy I was.