"study: cyberloafing" Slacking at work «Healthy»

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Research at the National University of Singapore has confirmed what many of us it seems intuitively know: taking a little time to encode or check your favorite blogs or webcomics is actually productive behaviour.

Just like a short break for a snack or a coffee can revive you a very short break to do something other than the type or the mouse around improves the quality of your work.

Conducted by researchers Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien k. g. Lim, started with participants making repetitive tasks: highlighting each "e" in the 3500-Word. They are then told to do one of three: one group was ordered to stack sticks in a certain way, the other was told nothing but go on the Internet and the other was ordered to go online and check out several blogs and websites. Finally they asked to repeat their first challenge with another document.

Not surprisingly, at least mentally exhausted (in accordance with the infallible questionnaire) and most productive Web people. Interesting that the verification e-mail did not tend to recover people, as it is seen as a kind of work to read and respond.

Methodologically, it is not bulletproof. People doing "nothing but the web in their own environment, rather than a laboratory, but rather will be updated as the Web of people. And tasks which require more attention and mastery (creative tasks, rather than repeating) may not be as pardon the interruption. However, it was noted that the Web browser does not have any adverse impact on the participants ' ability to function. It does not act as an opiate.

Naturally, this applies only to a certain degree (not WoW raids), and working conditions in real life must be reasonable as well (web access could not raise the morale of the sweatshop). But certainly counterproductive to try to limit or control the ability of workers to go to specific sites or take a short break, like this (I just picked up one of the last paragraph). This reduces the confidence and makes people miserable. And said that checking Reddit or 1UP is stealing from the company only ignores people who know better. In addition they will keep for "stealing" without a second thought.

So next time your boss is approaching the cube while you take five hit up a few blogs to tell him about the study and suggests that they make it policy. People love politics.

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Custom Labs receives $ 250 K to turn to lead a healthy life in the game

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Y Combinator funded health infection and health month teamed up this week to form one big health focused startup called habit Labs. Infection of health product, Imoveyou.com was closed down in the merger, and instead the founders Jen Mccabe and Benson Buster will focus on their health month site and building is still in stealth habit of AI.

In addition to early seed funding health crisis marks new laboratories habit run got $ 250 K in angel funding from Dave Mcclure, founders co-op, Rick Webb from the barbarian and apricot capital. Custom Labs is located in the same space as Mindbloom and Limeade.

Benson is best known for his relationship with 43Things, site objectives in social life, which ultimately ended up selling on Amazon. So there's plenty of 43Things influence per month, where users can register, choose three sanitary standards that they want to follow (as "eat more Greens"), and then those they follow them or not answering message day shift.

Health month use gamification to instill actual behavioural changes: the participants start the game with 10 points and lose points if they violate one of their rules. However, because the premise of the site is dependent on social proof users can ask for points and earn points from the other users with the ultimate goal of ending the month with 10 original points. There is also an opportunity to compete in the team, which could be interesting for startups.

McCabe said me that health month site currently has 45 K users, and that between 7-12% of them have decided to go to the premium version, which allows for more than three rules, at $ 5 per month or $ 50 per year.

McCabe expects AI Labs habit (what she calls the "Health Month on steroids") product to deploy gradually over the next six months. The company plans to use the money to grow their team and focus on their mobile product since version HTML5 health month first.

Month of medico-social game around better health habits. This new game, which takes place every month, and the players to set their own rules and then try to ...

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