There’s a point in every work day in which I take a moment to look at a baby animal.

It’s not so much that I’m a baby animal enthusiast as it is a byproduct of spending so much of my working life on the Internet. And baby animals have become Soma for the Internet soul.

Thankfully, I haven’t been doing myself a disservice by looking at adorable kittens and waddling young hippos. In fact, Hiroshima University researchers would attest that I’ve been increasing my productivity.

The Atlantic Wire explains:

“A team led by Hiroshi Nittono had 48 male and female students perform a visual task where they were asked to look for double digits in a series of random matrices with numbers. The students were asked to give as many accurate responses as possible in three minutes. Then, the students looked at pictures before doing the task again. One group looked at cute baby animals, another at less cute adult animals, and a third at pleasant-looking food.”

Wouldn’t you know it, the group that looked at the baby animals was the most productive. So next time your boss questions why you spend so much time ogling puppies—it’s because you’re being productive.

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