Playing Games At Work Is Also Good For You

from the well,-there-goes-my-day dept

Fri, Nov 7th 2003 11:15am — Mike Masnick

At first I thought this was another reference to the study we mentioned earlier in the week saying that personal surfing at work was good for you, but it appears to be a completely different study saying that playing video games at work may be good for you, as well. They're really talking about the same general concept, though. Having your brain always on the full "on" position isn't good for productivity. Being able to take short breaks to recharge your brain is much better - whether it's surfing the sports pages or playing a little solitaire. Of course, we suggested this back in May, saying that some were already questioning whether playing games at work might be good for you, as beyond just a typical break it can also encourage certain activities (such as teamwork, if you get people playing a team-based game). As for this study, it's amusing to note that the researchers had a lot of trouble finding companies willing to let their employees play games. However, the results show that workers who got to play up to an hour of games a day were more productive and more satisfied in their jobs. Of course, someone will come along and point out that if people are just playing games, no work will get done - but nowhere is anyone saying that people should play games all day long. However, as a way to take a break here and there, it appears that it may be a lot more beneficial than harmful. Anyway, now that I've said that, I'm off to go spend the rest of the day personal surfing, napping and playing video games...

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

17 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Steve Sanderson, 7 Nov 2003 @ 12:19pm

Napster logic redux
This is getting to be a tired subject... again, the Napster logic at work. Again, surfing sports pages and playing solitaire is NOT conducive to enhanced productivity, even if its not done all day. Playing video games does NOT enhance productivity, it's time to grow up, kids. Engaging in non-work related actvitities may, at the very best, not be HARMFUL to productivity, it's a childish pipe dream (and firm espousal of the Napster logic) to say that it actually ENHANCES productivity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 7 Nov 2003 @ 12:47pm
  
  Re: Napster logic redux
  Right. The studies made up their facts and figures, whereas you, with your infinite knowledge of these things just knows better...
  
  Go back to troll land...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Steve Sanderson, 7 Nov 2003 @ 1:36pm
    
    Re: Napster logic redux
    I'll go back to troll-land, and you can go back to playing video games and downloading illegal MP3s... let us know when you reach adulthood and we'll talk...
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- eeyore, 10 Nov 2003 @ 11:51am
  
  Re: Napster logic redux
  It still doesn't diminish productivity as much as the chain smokers does, Steve. The average adult can only focus on a task at hand for about thirty minutes at a stretch without needing a break. So is spending your ten minute coffee break surfing the internet any different than reading the newspaper except that you can't take it in the crapper with you?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 7 Nov 2003 @ 4:12pm

Mike, will you hire me
Wow. You're ok with surfing and playing games in addition to work. Please give me a job.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 7 Nov 2003 @ 4:23pm
  
  Re: Mike, will you hire me
  Sarcasm aside, don't misunderstand the point. If you're playing games or doing personal surfing at work, you better be damn productive when you are working. If you're not getting your work done, then that's no good. For example, a few weeks ago, someone here discovered the game Fishy - which is simple, yet addictive. He admitted to me that he spent the previous half an hour playing the game, and then tried to get me hooked as well. But, this guy gets a ton of work done. Why should I care if he uses a half an hour to play a random game, while getting more work done than two other people during the rest of his time?
  
  There's a really simple test for all of this. If you're productive, who cares what you're doing every minute of the day. If you're not productive, then clearly, finding out you're playing games all day isn't going to win you any fans.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
KL, 7 Nov 2003 @ 5:35pm

re: "Playing Games At Work Is Also Good For You"
Why is it that techdirt is constantly trying to kid itself that video games are a good and wholesome thing? Could it be that some of its writers are trying to validate their own problem with video game overplay?� or give credence to the bad gaming habits of many Techdirt readers?

Here�s the short of it. Video games are a waste of time. There are far better ways to spend one�s time, far more creative and productive things to do with a computer.

I�m sick of hearing only one side of this debate in the TD feeds. Are people so stupid and unimaginative that they can�t think of anything better to do, hour after hour, than play games? I wonder sometimes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Billis, 22 Nov 2006 @ 10:24am
  
  Re: re: "Playing Games At Work Is Also Good For Yo
  Games can teach strategy and exercise the mind, but it seems some out of ignorance would throw chess or RTS's out the window.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Frank, 7 Nov 2003 @ 9:17pm

uh-huh
Corporate executives go on all kinds of bullshit retreats and conferences where they waste DAYS at a time looking at booths and playing golf, and at most come back with a few neat Powerpoint presentation handouts. And they have relatively stimulating jobs. But God forbid Joe Schmoe takes a couple minutes playing Solitaire for a short break from mindless data entry - he's the bad guy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Tyson, 20 Jul 2006 @ 7:37am

Games At Work
Games at work is and can be productive.

I play games and surf probly 3 hrs out of my day. However during the other 5 I am productive and out work my co-workers. My numbers within the dept prove this. My numbers are above the average here. if i didnt play these games when I get tired and aggrivated with the job I probly would have quit by now. Now you have the smokers - they waste a godo 10-15 mins every hr smoking. Then they come back and talk and never take calls. also you have the people who work very slowly on purpose. Playing games at work is just fine. Otherwise I would have lost my job by not being "productive" when productivity counts at my job.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ben, 22 Jan 2007 @ 7:57am

I heard it was evil to play board games, so the same must apply to all games, computer games, console games, making comments on web site games, etc. In fact I've heard any time you have free you should turn it into work time, games a complete waste of time. Haha.

Some things in moderation are just fine, all work and no play makes you a grumpy man. On the other hand, 3 hours of gaming at work a day?????? That might be a little much dude. :) Everyone is so extreme, there are ways to balance all of this stuff.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Suz, 10 Mar 2008 @ 1:49pm
  
  playing games during school
  I agree with you that people need down time and playing solitaire just might do it, however, I would like to know your thoughts on high school students playing games in class. I have a young man who is in my class for 90 minutes. He probably plays games for at least 15 or 20 minutes. He's not very social and works very fast and is accurate doing his work. I guess I would like some input on how to keep students on task. Would love a discussion on this topic.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
richinvb, 28 Aug 2008 @ 1:32pm

Gaming - Surfing
Working a 9 hour day and getting paid for 8 requires me to take a 1 hour lunch. I unwind at my desk while eating with a bit of gaming and/or surfing. I see it as my time and it rejuvs me for the next 4 hours. (I am a manager btw)

Why does playing games = a need for someone to grow up? I am 40 and love to play a good game offline or on. Seems the casinos are pretty full of "old" people playing games. World Poker Championships anyone?

KL vid games are a waste of "your" time not mine. I have a good group of friends online that I have spent time in real life with and have come to like them better than some of my long time friends (we have a lot of similar interests) :) Happy gaming.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Matthew, 29 Aug 2008 @ 5:58am

ur all dumb, don't matter
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
matthew, 29 Aug 2008 @ 5:59am

Your all dumb. I am a dishwasher, i do as i desire for i am god of dishes. boo-yaa!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Abdulrahman, 28 Feb 2012 @ 5:12pm

We actually discussed this topic with it's comment in class today !! comment number 15 just killed me . it's funny to see this comment in a university class XD .
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cheryl Khan, 4 Dec 2013 @ 8:03am

Company Culture
I'm in the middle on this issue. I do agree that workers perform better when they are happy. However, I wonder how playing computer games will be beneficial for the company as a whole. At FourSquare, they do have a relaxed culture. Check it out here:

http://bit.ly/1azjRYP

They are allowed to play games (similar to Google but these multi-player games build cohesion amongst the group. The link talks about game tables being used as a "team-building" device at work. Hehe Forward it to your boss!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]