Researchers at the University of Melbourne confirmed this little truism in . Their research found that, on average, employees who use the Internet during work hours for personal reasons are 9% more productive than those who don't.

In my experience as a boss, employee and as a writer who thinks a lot about how technology affects attention and productivity, I think the Aussie researchers are looking at just one tiny piece of the attention-management puzzle.

I believe that not only are office slackers than work-only employees, but that people who work from home are more productive than the office crowd -- and for many of the same reasons, which I'll get to in a minute.

The researchers surmised that employees who do what they call "workplace Internet leisure browsing" (and what I call "Internet slacking") concentrate better after taking a mental break from work. But I'm not sure this explanation fully covers it.

Here are eight additional reasons why I think Internet slacking boosts productivity.