Cyberloafing, the misuse of time and internet resources during work hours, can be beneficial for employees and organizations if activities are moderated.
The Cyberloafing Paradox
Research reports are overflowing with statistics about how cyberloafing leads to loss of productivity among the employees, eventually leading to monetary loss for the organization.
However, there is also research that talks about the positive effects of cyberloafing, i.e., stress busting and rejuvenation. (Kwala, A. F. et.al., 2025, Lim, V. K., & Teo, T. S., 2024)
Digital Coffee Breaks
Just scrolling through social media, texting a family member or a friend, shopping for a gift, reading the news are some instances of cyberloafing. It is a digital version of a coffee break!
The Cognition Reset Button
Cyberloafing is said to enhance creativity and problem solving abilities. By exerting self-control over distractions and knowing when to stop can be treated as a healthy sign of cyberloafing. It is important to note that cyberloafing alone does not lead to these cognitive effects. Casual talks with colleagues, sharing and caring for each other can give some relief and relax the mind.
The Grey Area
We need to acknowledge that cyberloafing is fairly common among the workforce. Sometimes, it is an emergency, other times it is recreational. It is not necessary to view this activity from a negative angle, but rather understand why employees engage in cyberloafing at all. The reasons could be to relieve stress, manage workload and reconnect with our personal selves while working very seriously.
The Conservation of Resources Theory by Dr. Stevan E. Hobfoll. tells us how we try to keep our resources from exhausting. Cyberloafing could be one such activity where a person tries to regain their resources to get back to work.
When Boundaries Become Blur
Cyberloafing comes with its own red flags. What starts off as a “5 minute break” could potentially become a maladaptive pattern and lead to procrastination and loss of self-control and productivity.
Read more about procrastination…
One of the crucial reasons why companies restrict personal usage is phishing and smishing (yes that’s a word too!) which pose a serious threat to the security of company data.
The Why Of Cyberloafing
Employees with a heavy workload often engage in cyberloafing to simply relieve stress, boredom or overwhelmedness.
There are also instances when employees are either overqualified or underqualified for the work they do. Boredom and low levels of intrinsic motivation comes in the way of productivity for overqualified personnel, while worry and anxiety peaks in the underqualified ones. Either way, it leads to avoiding work, procrastination and cyberloafing, all in the hope of relieving some distress.
The Work Environment
It is simple psychology to understand that humans mimic others in their social environment. If this social environment is the workplace and employees are engaging in cyberloafing, a new joinee will vicariously learn to cyberloaf and justify their behavior with “they are doing it, I can too. It is not a big deal”. There will be a dearth of self-control and affects employee mindset negatively.
The nature and strength of employee-manager relationships has a profound impact on cyberloafing. Healthy communication between the two parties could mitigate the effects and bring it under control.
Takeaways:
For Employees
- Regulate non-work related aspects during work hours without leading to burnout. Neither complete abandonment of digital recreations nor overindulgence. Moderation is the key.
- Engage more in real time. Connect and nurture relationships with colleagues.
- Overqualification or underqualification is a deep rooted challenge and must be navigated with care. Gain clarity on the matter and communicate firmly, but politely to avoid negative affects.
For Organizations
- Rely on the efficiency and productivity of the employee, rather than counting the minutes spent on cyberloafing.
- Support recreation and enough break time for employees to de-stress and bounce back to work.
- Clear and effective communication between manager and employee and taking necessary actions to resolve their issues related to work and tasks.
The Bottom Line
Cyberloafing can guard you from burnout or rob you of time and control. You are the one to decide which way it should go.
REFERENCES
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J. P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior, 5(1), 103-128.
Kwala, A. F., Agoyi, M., Oluwajana, D. I., Isiaku, L., & Kefas, H. I. (2025). Reevaluating Cyberloafing: How Resource Conservation Shapes Its Impact on Employee Well-being and Organizational Outcomes. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 1-23.
Lim, V. K., & Teo, T. S. (2024). Cyberloafing: A review and research agenda. Applied Psychology, 73(1), 441-484.
