The internet has become a common tool in the workplace. Companies from all sectors were quick to embrace the opportunities and potentials given by the internet and put them to good use to achieve business goals. However, despite having contributed to the efficiency of work and performance, the internet also contributes to several concerns, among them is employee browsing unrelated materials and stuff at work. 

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The argument of personal browsing time 

Machado et al. cited that ever since technology comes into play in the world of work, human resources management face various challenges that have never been happened before, including cyberbullying, technical issues, tight talent pools, etc. Not to say, HRM also faces difficulty in managing employee production due to the use of the internet for personal reasons during working hours. Employers surveyed told Machado et al. that such use has a negative impact on productivity as employees could be wasting time that should be used to finish their tasks. 

How internet leisure time outweigh the negative impact 

On the contrary, several studies found a fascinating positive impact on personal browsing. A study by Kuem and Siponen, for example, revealed that a short time of non-work-related computing for a maximum of 15 minutes has a positive impact on work productivity, including relief from boredom, higher creativity, and underlying recovery mechanism. 

Coker is his study on Workplace Leisure Browsing and Freedom to Surf also found that the positive effect of work unrelated browsing outweighs its negative occurrence. In both studies, Coker revealed that workplace internet leisure browsing replenishes attentional resources more than less enjoyable types of breaks. The nationwide survey finds a correlation between browsing time and perceived productivity for those brought up with the Internet. The work personal browsing also impacts on employee productivity, indicating that it is unobtrusive which enabled restoration of mental capacity and foster feelings of autonomy. 

In several points, here are what you can gain from having a few minutes away of work-related internet time. 

• Your productivity restored 
• You might gain creative ideas from browsing unrelated topics about your job desks 
• You will be more motivated once you start working again 
• You are not likely to burn out 
• You will be more relaxed with the stressful tasks from browsing something of your choice 
• You are likely to have better concentration 
• Lastly, you can accomplish more because you can control the work pressure that comes to you by doing workplace internet leisure time. 

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