By VICTOR KATHEYAS

SO you've been busy in front of the computer screen - but have you been busy doing work?

A conference paper authored by associate professor Vivien Lim and her student Don Chen of the National University of Singapore suggests that employees may be spending a significant amount of time 'cyberloafing', or voluntarily using their companies' Internet access for non-work personal purposes during working hours.

This, understandably, may be a cause for concern for companies. The report argues that checking email, for example, distracts employees and is especially negative because, in addition to requiring employees to devote a certain amount of time and effort to craft replies, emails generally require immediate attention and are, for the most part, not predictable.

Interestingly though, the paper states that not all types of cyberloafing are inimical to productivity - some may even be positive.

The paper reveals that browsing the Web, for example, is generally positive because it serves a maintenance function - it allows employees to cope with 'stressors such as fatigue, psychological distress, personal business and family issues'.

It is no wonder then that another study revealed that 'frequent cyberloafers are happier, more committed to their organisations, more satisfied with their jobs and less likely to quit.'

Regardless of its merits (and shortcomings), Assoc Prof Lim is certain that cyberloafing is set to increase in Singapore.

She said that three years ago, Singaporeans spent an average of 38 minutes cyberloafing per day; today, they cyberloaf an average of 51 minutes a day. The growing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, coupled with the prevalence of multimedia-enabled mobile phones, may contribute to this trend as well, she added.

While companies may sit up and want to arrest this trend, Assoc Prof Lim cautioned firms against implementing a blanket policy that prohibits all forms of personal Web usage as such a strategy 'is not effective'.

The challenge for firms, she said, is to curb non-work related email activities among employees, while allowing them to surf the Net insofar as it serves as a motivating and stress coping strategy.

This story was first published in The Business Times.