Johannesburg - Did you know that research shows that when it’s cold, people bundle up? Or that going bald makes people unhappy?
Well, a new study has given us another obvious factoid - smartphones can be distracting.
Kaspersky, a cyber-security company, commissioned a psychological experiment by the universities of Würzburg in Germany and Nottingham Trent in the UK that has shown that while your new cellphone makes you easier to contact, it makes you less productive when you’re messing around on it at your work desk.
The study saw 95 people between the ages of 19 and 56 perform a concentration test under four different circumstances: with their smartphones in their pocket, at their desk, locked in a drawer and removed from the room.
According to the study, when smartphones were taken away from participants, their performance improved by an average of 26 percent.
Here’s what one of the researchers at Nottingham Trent, Jens Binder, had to say about phones and anxiety: “Previous studies have shown that on the one hand, separation from one’s smartphone has negative emotional effects, such as increased anxiety, but, on the other hand, studies have also demonstrated that one’s smartphone may act as a distractor when present.
“In other words, both the absence and presence of a smartphone could impair concentration.”
Sounds conclusive. However, local analysis of the study seems to prove it wasn’t such a waste of time.
“Instead of expecting permanent access to their smartphones, employee productivity might be boosted if they have dedicated smartphone-free” time.
“One way of doing this is to enforce meeting rules - such as no phones and no computers - in the normal work environment”, says Kaspersky Lab in Africa managing director Riaan Badenhorst.
“Businesses should also be aware that in today’s connected business landscape, lower concentration levels can be a security issue.
“Advanced targeted attacks, for example, can be discovered only if employees are alert and on the lookout for unexpected and unusual email content.
“It is, therefore, vital that businesses develop security processes, including training sessions, to increase employee alertness, whether employees are using their smartphones at work or not.”
Both its presence and absence can impair concentration.
THE STAR