Adequate sleep, good nutrition and facing your problems head on can help you avoid cyberloafing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Every week, 25-year-old Kate Chen, a civil servant in Beijing, always spends at least half a day frittering away time by surfing the Internet at work. She browses news portals or loafs on social networking sites.

"Unconsciously, it has become a habit or routine in my life. Sometimes before I realize it, half a day has passed without me doing anything at work," said Kate.

Kate is cyberloafing, and she is not alone. According to a 2013 study by Kansas State University in the US, 60 to 80 percent of an average worker's time on the Internet was spent doing nothing to do with their work, the Daily News reported in 2013.

"Cyberloafing is quite common as the Internet is penetrating deeper into our life. I think there are two main factors: mood and a lack of sleep," said Chen Zhilin, a Chongqing-based psychologist.

Kate recalled that last Thursday when she came to the office, she did not feel well because her favorite dog ran away the day before. Kate's boss assigned her to write a speech. Instead of finishing it, she took to cyberloafing for almost two days.

Kate said that many of her colleagues or friends will turn to cyberloafing if they are not happy or feel troubled at work. "I felt sad over the missing dog, and it made me happier to read gossip or interesting stories about my friends online than doing a boring or difficult task."

In Kate's case, cyberloafing is a way of escaping from bad emotions, Chen the psychologist said.

"A bad mood easily leads to cyberloafing," said Chen, adding that with a computer or mobile phone at hand, people hope that they can release bad emotions by aimlessly surfing the Internet. However, usually people just get more depressed, because they did not face the root cause of their unhappiness.

Not getting enough sleep can also cause cyberloafing. The less sleep one has, the more one is likely to loaf during work, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, published in 2012.

The study found that sleep is one of the main factors that influence one's self-discipline.

"It is like a vicious circle. Cyberloafers hope surfing the Web will cheer them up," said Chen. "Every time they cyberloaf, they feel that it has improved their mood, but this is just an illusion. They have to come back to reality."

If cyberloafing has influenced your life or work, or bad emotions have lasted for more than one week, you should go to see a psychologist, Chen suggested.

Chen said the most effective way to quit cyberloafing is to come back to reality by communicating in the real world. When you find that you are not interested in anything, or always spend your time cyberloafing, meet your friends to have a chat or walk. Try to reduce the time you spend on the Internet. Have a good sleep. More importantly, learn to release your pressure and manage your emotions by running, sunbathing, taking a shower or chewing gum, Chen said.

Sun Tao, a certified nutritionist and psychologist, told Metropolitan that food can help improve one's emotions and self-discipline, therefore reducing cyberloafing.

"Some people think that snacks with a lot of sugar such as chocolate or desserts quickly improve their self-control and emotions, but this could just help temporarily. To steadily and permanently improve our mood, we should eat more whole-grain food such as whole-grain bread, leafy green vegetables or B-group vitamin," said Sun.