Internet use at work for some employees is bouncing from productive to excessive to just plain out of control.
Some workers check personal e-mails every 10 minutes without realizing it. They send text messages almost unconsciously, then spend time shopping on online sites.
David Greenfield, a psychologist and president of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, based in West Hartford, Conn., says that staff who suffer from Net addiction get less productive. So more companies are finding ways to limit the damage.
Many companies aren't as aware of the problem as they should be. E-mails and text messages sent from PDAs, BlackBerrys and cell phones can keep staff engaged with clients and coworkers. Since most companies depend on such technology, they often ignore the signs of Internet abuse.
A Cycle Of Addiction
Staffers obsessed with the Internet start to resemble "a person at a casino. (The feeling) produces a sense of dissociation. They lose sense of time; time goes by unconsciously," said Greenfield. Trapped in this cycle of Internet frenzy, workers overlook their business tasks and are unable to finish work on time.
Psychologically, Greenfield says the>>>


