Watching baby animal videos might make you a more productive employee, says study

Have you seen that adorable baby panda sneezing video yet? If you answered yes, there's a decent chance you watched it at work, while pretending to be, you know, working.

Most of us have quickly clicked away from a screen full of kittens as the boss approaches. There must be some inexplicable force of nature that compels even the most mature and responsible of adults to break down and watch baby animal YouTube videos at work from time to time.

Also see: Kitty shows some love to lizard: video

So the next time you get busted by your boss cooing at Boo the Pomeranian, you can quote a just-published study out of Japan, that found looking at cute images of baby animals can actually make you more productive at work.

Researchers at Hiroshima University had students complete a series of work-like tasks, reports Gawker. During breaks, the participants were shown photos of either baby animals, adult animals, or delicious foods. Those who were shown the cute baby animals out-performed those who were shown the food or grown-up animals by a significant margin.

Also see: Monkey plays guess who: video

The fact that we're living in an age of cute obsession is well documented. Vanity Fair ran a feature on our newfound fascination with the infantile, and Guardian columnist Eva Wiseman recently pondered her own complete inability to stop watching baby animal videos on YouTube.

But this is definitely the first suggestion that cuteness might be good for productivity. Previous studies have shown that humans slow down their speech when talking to babies, and the Hiroshima researchers suggest that viewing cute animals has a similar effect. The students who viewed the baby animals slowed their behaviour and were able to better focus on the tasks at hand and execute them.

So remember, baby animals help you focus. Now where is that slow loris video.