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Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
We are working less and sleeping less, according to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
According to the study conducted by Scott Wallsten of the TechnologyPolicyInstitute, we spend sixteen fewer seconds working for every minute we spend online. Similarly, we spend seven fewer seconds sleeping for every minute we spend online. The study used data from The American Time Use Survey, a survey that measures how Americans spend their time.
Assuming an average sleeping time of seven hours and a workday consisting of eight hours, leisure time spent online shaves off approximately two hours from each activity. In the latter case, if you include a lunch break of approximately 30 minutes, this means that we spend a total time of five hours and thirty minutes at work.
To be sure, leisure time is a fairly loose term to describe our online activities. This is reflected in the studys caveats. For example, the study approximates computer leisure time to activities such as social media, which did not exist before 2003 when the survey was created. Similarly, the study contextualizes multitasking without taking computers and tablets with offline activities.
There has been much hand-wringing about the productivity time lost, as a result of the Internet. Water cooler conversations, which are the offline equivalent of social media, are supposed to waste time at work. However, some experts think otherwise. Similarly, Angry Birds, which is supposed to have cost $1.5 billion in lost productivity, is not such a waste of time after all.
Most such studies, however, fail to take into account the changing nature of work. The barriers between work and leisure have become fairly indistinct in recent times. For example, social media, which is banned at several workplaces, contains useful nuggets of information to increase productivity. Similarly, Google GOOG +2.42% searches can be a valuable productivity tool as well as a source of distraction. As my fellow contributor Cheryl Conner wrote in anearlier post: The truth is that we waste time at work.
Credit: HBR
One of the more interesting nuggets in the study relates to the age and demographic breakdown of time spent online. Predictably enough, the share of leisure time versus total time is highest for the individuals aged between 15 and 17. Surprisingly, that difference remains fairly constant for individuals aged between 18 and 44. Having grown up with larger-than-average screen time, one would assume that the lower age range (18 to 34) would skew towards more leisure time. However, that doesnt seem to be the case. I suspect what we are seeing here are the transitional effects of a society moving online. As we increasingly spend more time online (and the distinction between work and leisure becomes even more blurred), the graph contours will change. In effect, more screen time might just equal more work done (though, that may not necessarily be productive considering the loss of sleep).
Now that I have wasted your time with these statistics, it is time to get back to work. In the meanwhile, I will switch to the next tabs, where I have a Google search and Facebook FB -1.47% waiting for me.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshs...g-less-and-sleeping-less-due-to-the-internet/
According to the study conducted by Scott Wallsten of the TechnologyPolicyInstitute, we spend sixteen fewer seconds working for every minute we spend online. Similarly, we spend seven fewer seconds sleeping for every minute we spend online. The study used data from The American Time Use Survey, a survey that measures how Americans spend their time.
Assuming an average sleeping time of seven hours and a workday consisting of eight hours, leisure time spent online shaves off approximately two hours from each activity. In the latter case, if you include a lunch break of approximately 30 minutes, this means that we spend a total time of five hours and thirty minutes at work.
To be sure, leisure time is a fairly loose term to describe our online activities. This is reflected in the studys caveats. For example, the study approximates computer leisure time to activities such as social media, which did not exist before 2003 when the survey was created. Similarly, the study contextualizes multitasking without taking computers and tablets with offline activities.
There has been much hand-wringing about the productivity time lost, as a result of the Internet. Water cooler conversations, which are the offline equivalent of social media, are supposed to waste time at work. However, some experts think otherwise. Similarly, Angry Birds, which is supposed to have cost $1.5 billion in lost productivity, is not such a waste of time after all.
Most such studies, however, fail to take into account the changing nature of work. The barriers between work and leisure have become fairly indistinct in recent times. For example, social media, which is banned at several workplaces, contains useful nuggets of information to increase productivity. Similarly, Google GOOG +2.42% searches can be a valuable productivity tool as well as a source of distraction. As my fellow contributor Cheryl Conner wrote in anearlier post: The truth is that we waste time at work.
Credit: HBROne of the more interesting nuggets in the study relates to the age and demographic breakdown of time spent online. Predictably enough, the share of leisure time versus total time is highest for the individuals aged between 15 and 17. Surprisingly, that difference remains fairly constant for individuals aged between 18 and 44. Having grown up with larger-than-average screen time, one would assume that the lower age range (18 to 34) would skew towards more leisure time. However, that doesnt seem to be the case. I suspect what we are seeing here are the transitional effects of a society moving online. As we increasingly spend more time online (and the distinction between work and leisure becomes even more blurred), the graph contours will change. In effect, more screen time might just equal more work done (though, that may not necessarily be productive considering the loss of sleep).
Now that I have wasted your time with these statistics, it is time to get back to work. In the meanwhile, I will switch to the next tabs, where I have a Google search and Facebook FB -1.47% waiting for me.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshs...g-less-and-sleeping-less-due-to-the-internet/
