Employee recreation room at the Google Zurich office. (flickr user pineapplebun (cc: by-nc-sa))
Employees goofing off and wasting time at work is always a concern for bosses. But Takeaway contributor Beth Kobliner says that as the economy tightens, employees are taking on extra responsibilities and that blowing off steam in creative ways can actually help maintain ones overall focus. She tells us why, with David Rock, author of "Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus and Working Smarter All Day Long
"We're taxing a part of the brain that we've never taxed like this before. The prefrontal cortex and our working memory was supposed to be used once in a while. Just ten years ago we didn't use it nearly as much, before email hit the ground in a big way. Now we're trying to focus on very complicated things for hours and hours on end, and our brains aren't really built to do it."
—David Rock, author, on the physiological reasons why taking mental breaks during the workday may be necessary
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