"all participants had to spend 20 minutes highlighting as many letter e's as they could find in a 3,500-word text..."

These examples really don't compare to a hacker news reader's job. As long as the title looks catchy it'll be here.

I'd be interested in your ideas for designing a better study. What this shows is that it improves concentration, which is vital no matter what your job is.

Seriously .. I mean Really !! The url of the story ends with - …/wasting-time-online-boosts-productivity.html <- Its an oxymoron. This is crap

Do you think the studies showing vacation time boosts productivity are crap as well? I mean, being on vacation means you're not even at work.