In a bygone age, when the bete noir of the workplace was the open-plan office, the challenge many workers faced was the sheer level of distractions they faced in the typical office environment. Various studies showed how long it takes people to regain their concentration once they’ve been distracted.

Research from Trinity Business School reminds us, however, that while distractions are often bad, they can also be beneficial. They found that some distractions can actually lower our stress levels.

“Our study shows that experiencing feelings of positivity throughout your workday can help you to remain effective particularly when daily work demands require you to invest a lot of self-control, that is, regulatory resources to control your temper,” the researchers explain.

For instance, watching short, positive interventions, such as watching something funny on YouTube, helped participants overcome their daily demands and tasks that they generally dreaded. This, in turn, helped them to become more creative, engaged, and generally helpful toward their peers.

Beneficial distractions

As a result, the researchers argue that it’s perhaps time that we go easy on ourselves when we get distracted by the various delights the internet has to offer us. Instead, it can be a positive thing and help to buffer the stresses we otherwise face.

“Trying to stay calm after reading an annoying email, for example, is typically quite depleting for employees,” the researchers continue. “Consequently, they might struggle to demonstrate self-control throughout the rest of their workday, which, in turn, would hamper their engagement, creativity, and behavior toward their colleagues.

“This is where positivity comes into play: Watching a funny video increases feelings of positivity. Such positive emotions allow employees to protect their regulatory resources even after dealing with resource-consuming self-control demands. In turn, this positively affects their effectiveness at work.”

The researchers explain that the modern work environment is pretty mentally demanding, and there is insufficient understanding of how we can work to reduce the stressful impact demands of self-control have on us.

“Our research shows that short positivity interventions can help employees make the best of their day and that employers and employees should consider incorporating more positivity into the workday!,” they conclude. “For example, organizations could provide employees with recommendations about short funny videos via a daily newsletter or post a ‘joke of the day’ on the intranet. By doing so, employers can help mitigate the negative effects of self-control demands.”