The phenomenon of social media addiction has always been problematic. But according to new research, it’s an issue the workforce is also now having to contend with.

Australian workers are costing the economy and their employers billions of dollars in lost productivity, courtesy of compulsive phone use during work hours. New research, commissioned by Rise, has revealed up to a third of Australians get “regularly distracted by their smartphone or social media at work,” with 42 percent checking it up to seven times a day during working hours.

Digital health and wellbeing researcher, Kristy Goodwin, says it’s a problem employers are struggling to navigate.

“Phones have really become the modern cigarette break for many of us,” explains Goodwin.

“This is something that companies are just beginning to see on their radar, especially in terms of how it’s impacting their employees and executives.”

The issue looks as though it will be a tough one to overcome, with our devices reportedly deliberately programmed to be conducive to distraction.

“These technologies have been created to capitalise and hijack our attention, so we are no longer in control of our attention. Instead, we succumb to all these sensory seductions. Our phone typically vibrates, there are intentionally selected colours, it triggers this sense of urgency in our brains.”

“The software developers, they are tech people, but many are surprised to learn there are also psychologists and neuroscientists developing these technologies, so they can captivate and garner our attention.”

“So it’s about how we can leverage it in healthy ways and mitigate its potentially harmful effects.”

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