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Excellent news! All that time you “waste” squealing over pictures of adorable baby animals on the web — it actually makes you more productive!

This is the conclusion of researchers at Hiroshima University as reported in The Washington Post. Their study compared one group of students’ productivity after viewing pictures of baby animals to that of a second group that saw pictures of adult dogs and cats and a third group that looked at images of food. The tiny cuties proved most inspirational.

Photo credit: Tess Aquarium

The task the students had to perform was similar to the game of Operation, and the researchers speculated that the superior performance of the first group might be due to stimulation of the fine motor skills needed to care for babies. Another theory they offered was that the baby pictures made the subjects more attentive, a quality which would translate into higher productivity on a wide range of tasks.

Photo credit: zidane_0120

The Hiroshima study is a welcome counterpoint to the conventional internet wisdom that many of us waste time visually gobbling up irresistible images of baby cats, dogs, otters, polar bears, deer, ducklings, you name it. Those of us who fall prey to this pastime — and I count myself among them — know that the pictures improve our moods, because we can’t help but smile. Maybe that is the explanation for the productivity increase right there — happier people are more effective.

Photo credit: iStockphoto

Now we can brandish this study against those who would mock our sentimental attraction to kittens and baby bunnies cuddling together. We’re not being foolish — we’re working.

By the way, The Washington Post reports that the productivity boost applied to men and women alike.

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Might as well look at a few more adorable babies, as long as you’re banking all this productivity.

Photo credit: iStockphoto

Enjoy the fuzziness. It will pay for itself in efficiency.

Photo credit: Digital Vision

Photo credit: s.yume

Okay, time to go prove those researchers right!