It’s been proven! Watching cute cat videos boosts your productivity

Cute kitten evoke positive feelings which boost motivation and concentration (Shutterstock.com)

When people talk about boosting productivity they think about cutting down on unnecessary distractions. But Japanese researchers have suggested a rather peculiar productivity booster...

Go ahead and finish watching that video of the adorable kitten licking its paws. Scientists believe that it's increasing your productivity.

A study released by Japanese researchers from Hiroshima University has suggested that when people look at the cute faces of kitties doing super cute things (side note: Have you ever fixated your eyes on a video of a cat trying to catch a ball of cotton? So cute!) it stimulates their care-giving impulse – kinda like that fuzzy feeling you get after seeing a baby.

So how exactly was this theory tested?

Well, the task was pretty simple: Recruit 50 university students and get them to perform a number of tasks that require concentration, such as using tweezers to remove tiny items from a hole. Before they could get on with the task, some students were required to look at the cute animal pictures.

And the result?

As you would have it, those who were shown the pictures of the animals from the feline family turned out to do a whole lot better than those who had not seen them. Included in the experiment were pictures of pleasant foods and a bunch of other stuff, but the kittens won the hearts of the students, and subsequently their productivity levels too.

The Science behind cute cats…

According to the researchers, Kawaii (the Japanese word for cute) things are popular because they result in positive feelings, which boost motivation and result in better levels of concentration. Viewing images of baby animals enables one to process larger volumes of information more rapidly, the contrary when viewing not-so-cute images. Cute objects may also generally be used as an object for evoking careful behavioural tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work.

So next time you're faced with a dull, frustrating or challenging task which you'd rather not do, simply turn to YouTube for some productivity boosting cat entertainment.  Your boss will give you a pat on the back soon as he catches on – that’s if his not the micromanaging type – in which case if he is, it’s best you find yourself a new job.