Online games can be as good as social chats during workplace breaks

Message to your boss - gaming on your work break can actually be good for you.

Work related stress, and drops in concentration are common. But can quick stints in online games or on social websites fix that as easily as chatting with colleagues? // Image: B Hernandez, Flickr

WITH the growing number of users picking newer smartphones over the traditional, net-free 'dumbphones', apps are taking on the old watercooler as the prime way to let off steam during a stressful working day.

Even still, is swapping that five-minute walk or a conversation with a colleague for some Facebook or Bejeweled actually a good idea?

10 apps to stave off workplace stress

Dr Deepali Batra, clinical psychologist at the Batra Hospital in New Delhi, told the Inter Asia News Service that "whenever we hold stress management workshops, we advise professionals to take a short break and play some online games".

"This can improve their focus and output," he said.

Dr Markus Groth, associate professor of Organisational Behaviour at UNSW's Australian School of Business, said that while his own research hadn't looked specifically at the effectiveness of technological stress release, he still thought there was some substance to the idea that digital distractions could be as effective as "real" ones.

"I wouldn't see why these sort of breaks would be any better or any worse than other types of breaks," he said.

"Though this is a new, novel kind of medium, I think the same basic principles still apply.

"If it takes you away from what you are doing in terms of the resources that you're using up, be it cognitive, or emotional, or whatever, if you just need some alone time, why not play a game online?

"If you need some social support, why not go and chat online with someone on Skype or Facebook?"

His current research into job stress in higher-pressure contexts such as hospitals also suggested that shorter, more regular breaks could be enough to refuel your emotional or cognitive energies.