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We are currently living in a digital era, where everything is internet-associated or digitally blended. The Internet and cyberspace have redefined human life and helped to mold our society. A complete eradication of human life from cyberspace is unlikely and will not happen. But an important question arising from this concern is: Are we using it too much, or are we dependent on it? We have yet to determine a specific answer for it.
Cyberloafing is a concept that can be read with the concern mentioned above in mind. The concept of cyberloafing can be defined like this, cyberloafing is the habit of using work time or productive time to engage in social media platforms or any other internet-related activities instead of performing the respective tasks. By definition, Cyberloafing might be portrayed as a bad thing, but is it always a bad thing? It is not a bad thing but it can be a bad thing if the workers go without any regulations. Let us go to a detailed analysis of Cyberloafing.
What is cyberloafing?
Wasting our quality productive time cannot be acceptable, but giving a little relax to our mind to start something new with a fresh mind can increase our productivity and affect the total quality of our work. Cyberloafing is a term that is generally used to describe employees who exploit their work time to engage in Internet activities that are not related to work. People who indulge in cyberloafing often perform actions like using social media, playing games, web browsing, checking and replying to personal emails, etc. We can’t define the concept comprehensively, any internet activity that steals productivity time from the users can be considered as cyberloafing.
Generally, It is not an acceptable trend in the workspace since it causes negative outcomes for both employees and employers. The employee might be in a risky position and can even lose their job if they have found cyberloafing. Employers might face decreased profits and loss of quality work time because of cyberloafing. It is the main reason for the implementation of strict regulation of internet and device usage in most companies.
However there are arguments that cyberloafing is a completely negative thing, but it can create some positive impacts too. At a controlled rate, cyberloafing can be an effective method to clear the employees’ minds and restart their work with more productivity and fresh minds. This is why cyberloafing has become a complex concept and we can’t completely say whether it is a positive or negative thing.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Cyberloafing
Like any other thing, cyberloafing too has some advantages even if it is commonly considered a negative thing. Even if it has positive outcomes and advantages, that doesn’t mean we are promoting the waste of work time by engaging in internet activities it is mentioned here since this article aims to provide a comprehensive awareness of cyberloafing and its importance in modern-day workspace.
Advantages of Cyberloafing
Cyberloafing can have some positive impacts on the workspace. These positive impacts can affect the total work of the employee and can enhance their productivity. Let us take a look at what the main advantages of cyberloafing are.
Stress relief
Employees can use cyberloafing as a way to relieve their work stress. Engaging in internet activities for a short interval of time will not do any harm and it can even enhance the employees’ productivity to a certain extent. Workplace aggression and frustration can be lessened with cyberloafing.
Creativity
Cyberloafing will be able to enable creativity in the employees’ work. This can free up their mind and they will be able to perform their works creatively.
Mental Distraction
Workers will be tired and distracted from their work when it has an exhausting schedule. Cyberloafing when they are tired or distracted from work can create a positive mindset in workers. This will provide a mental break from work and workers will be able to work with a fresh mind once they feel relaxed.
Regaining focus
Taking a break from work will help workers to regain their focus in the workplace. Cyberloafing can equip the workers with recovered focus. People will be able to sharpen their focus and work effectively after they are indulged in cyberloafing for a short period.
These are the important advantages of cyberloafing. If it is implemented effectively, It can be one of the most effective strategies to improve the quality and productivity of the workspace. Some issues will arise too if it goes unchecked or unregulated.
Disadvantages of Cyberloafing
Cyberloafing can affect the workspace negatively if it is continued uncontrollably. It can affect the totality of the work and even lead to financial loss to the employers. Let us have a comprehensive analysis of the disadvantages of cyberloafing.
Loss of Productivity
The loss or compromise in productivity is the main disadvantage of cyberloafing. Overindulgence in cyberloafing can create less engagement in the work and workers will not produce quality contributions during work time.
Financial loss for organizations
Workers engaging in cyberloafing will never be a good thing for the organization. Cyberloafing can be too costly for organizations and some reports suggest that the organizations may cost up to $85 billion per year. Cyberloafing is the one thing that needs to be controlled effectively to prevent the financial loss of the company or organization.
Clogging the Internet Connectivity
Engaging in cyberloafing can affect the total internet bandwidth of the organization. Engaging in higher connectivity requires tasks like streaming high-quality videos, downloading large files, etc can clog the entire internet connectivity.
Termination of Employees
It is the main disadvantage or negative impact of cyberloafing. The employees who actively engage in cyberloafing will most likely face termination from the company. The worker then becomes a liability to the company which they wish not to suffer, so the termination is a guaranteed outcome of cyberloafing.
These are the main disadvantages of cyberloafing. It is an important thing that needs to be strictly regulated, otherwise, it can hinder the growth of both workers and the company.
Role of Cyberloafing in Modern-Day Workspace
Most of our contemporary workspaces are digital, so a complete eradication of internet services and devices is not possible. cyberloafing has a great impact on our workspace. It can positively and negatively impact the workspace and productivity of the employees. It is all about how workers can utilize this option. They can use it for the betterment of their work and it can affect them negatively if it goes uncontrollably.
Workers can use cyberloafing to clear their minds and it can help them work more efficiently and creatively. This can be an effective method to relieve the constant work pressure in the contemporary job sectors. In the 21st century, a lot of people are suffering from work stress and even committing suicide because of it. So cyberloafing with limited time management should be welcomed in every job sector. But the chance of exploiting cyberloafing is a major concern too. People tend to overuse the internet services if it is left unchecked and uncontrolled. A standard procedure to measure and regulate cyberloafing is the basic requirement in every job sector.
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Conclusion
Maintaining an optimal work atmosphere and balancing the work life is a complex process to do. To maintain this people may need to adopt different methodologies and ways. Cyberloafing can be a good method to effectively balance the work pressure and deliver an improved output.
A strict regulation regarding cyberloafing like allotted time intervals after the completion of specific tasks can be implemented. To maintain this culture effectively, proper awareness should be given to all the users.
