Decreased Productivity: Is the Internet to Blame?

Internet Addiction in the workplace has impacts on employee performance as well as the companies those employees work for. The less productive an employee is the organization as a whole will suffer, deadlines will be missed, and profits lost. It may sound awful enough, especially to those who maybe in a managerial or supervisory role, but is the Internet the sole proprietor to addiction, or are there other factors that contribute to workers being less productive and more dependent on the Internet?

Multitasking is a skill that many people possess. Some can perform multiple tasks at one time better than others, but can multitasking actually contribute to decreased productivity? Can the act of trying to be more efficient negatively impact the amount of work one can accomplish during a given period of time? The answer is yes, multitasking can actually cause the mind to lose focus of objectives and goals of their work. The more tasks a person has at one time can cause distraction, the feeling of being overwhelmed, and gives rise to the need for an escape. In the workplace, people turn to the Internet for their escape, there they have access to endless amounts of information. Studies have shown that a simple Internet search can lead to an employees production rate falling to 28% due in part to the amount of time it takes to refocus and reorganize their minds.

Internet Addiction in the workplace is not just influenced by the access of the Internet being available in so many platforms, but it is also contributed to by the environment in the workplace and the employee's work habits. The solution some have imposed of monitoring or limiting Internet usage may be effective in some cases, but it would be more effective to reduce the employees needs for distractions and encourage more productivity through a more hospitable work environment. Of course this is just one approach and as more is learned about Internet addiction, clear and sound approaches to minimizing the addiction in the workplace will be created and implemented.

Source:
GARY M., STERN. "Removing The Curse Of Internet Addiction." Investors Business Daily 08 Feb. 2010: A09. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.