By JENNIFER TIDBALL
K-State News and Editorial Services

MANHATTAN — Want to be more productive and happier during the workday? Try taking a short break to text a friend, play “Angry Birds” or check Facebook on your smartphone, according to Kansas State University research.

In his latest research, Sooyeol Kim, doctoral student in psychological sciences, found that allowing employees to take smartphone microbreaks may be a benefit — rather than a disruption — for businesses. Microbreaks are nonworking-related behaviors during working hours

Through a study of 72 full-time workers from various industries, Kim discovered that employees only spend an average of 22 minutes out of an eight-hour workday playing on their smartphones. He also found that employees who take smartphone breaks throughout the day are happier at the end of the workday.

“A smartphone microbreak can be beneficial for both the employee and the organization,” Kim said. “For example, if I would play a game for an hour during my working hours, it would definitely hurt my work performance. But if I take short breaks of one or two minutes throughout the day, it could provide me with refreshment to do my job.”

To study smartphone usage, Kim and collaborators developed an application that the 72 study participants installed on their smartphones. The app privately and securely measured the employees’ smartphone usage during work hours. The app also divided the employees’ smartphone usage into categories such as entertainment, which included games such as “Angry Birds” or “Candy Crush,” or social media, which included Facebook and Twitter.

At the end of each workday, the participants recorded their perceived well-being.

“By interacting with friends or family members through a smartphone or by playing a short game, we found that employees can recover from some of their stress to refresh their minds and take a break,” Kim said.

Taking a break throughout the workday is important because it is difficult — and nearly impossible — for an employee to concentrate for eight straight hours a day without a break, Kim said. Smartphone microbreaks are similar to other microbreaks throughout the workday: chatting with coworkers, walking around the hallway or getting a cup of coffee. Such breaks are important because they can help employees cope with the demands of the workplace.

“These days, people struggle with a lot of different types of stressors, such as work demands, time scheduling, family issues or personal life issues,” Kim said. “We need to understand how we can help people recover and cope with stressors. Smartphones might help and that is really important not only for individuals, but for an organization, too.”

The smartphone research is part of Kim’s overall research that focuses on workplace microbreaks. His adviser is YoungAh Park, assistant professor of psychological sciences. Kim presented the research at the 29th annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference in May.

Written by Jennifer Tidball from ksu.edu.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Passengers at some overseas airports that offer U.S.-bound flights will be required to power on their electronic devices in order to board their flights.

The Transportation Security Administration says it’s requiring some overseas airports to have passengers turn on devices such as cellphones before boarding. It says devices that won’t power up won’t be allowed on planes, and those travelers may have to undergo additional screening.

American intelligence officials have been concerned about new al-Qaida efforts to produce a bomb that would go undetected through airport security. There is no indication that such a bomb has been created or that there’s a specific threat to the U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recently ordered the TSA to call for extra security measures at some international airports with direct flights to the United States.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Gambling revenues at the Kansas Star Casino south of Wichita are lagging behind figures recorded a year ago soon after the permanent casino started operating.

The casino’s June report to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission showed that it has won $167 million from gamblers so far this year, compared to $176.3 million a year ago at this time.

General Manager Scott Cooper says a struggling economy has had an impact on revenues. He says a hotel expansion and other amenities to be added soon should boost those numbers.

Wichita Eagle reports the reduced revenues means Kansas has taken in about $2.1 million less in taxes on the operation than it had by this time last year.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A group of Wichita marijuana advocates is counting petition signatures to see if there are enough to force a citywide vote on decriminalizing pot in the community.

Petitioners are trying to gather nearly 3,000 valid signatures on a petition that would give voters a chance in November to ask for sharply lower punishments for marijuana possession.

The current maximum criminal penalty of $2,500 and a year in jail would be reduced to a $25 civil fine.

The Wichita Eagle reports supporters view marijuana possession laws as a gateway into the criminal justice system for young people, especially blacks.

Among the petition’s advocates is Kansas Rep. Gail Finney, a Wichita Democrat who has tried unsuccessfully for years to get the Legislature to vote on a medical marijuana bill.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation allowing law enforcement agencies to assist each other across state lines in the Kansas City metro area.

Now, the Kansas City Metro Tactical Officers Association will try to get a similar law passed in Kansas, as required by the Missouri legislation.

The measure signed by Nixon last week would let officers in nine Missouri and Kansas counties respond to requests for help across the state line for active shootings, terrorist acts or other incidents that endanger the public.

Missouri counties named in the bill are Jackson, Clay, Platte, Cass and Ray. The Kansas counties are Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Miami.

The mutual aid arrangement would be established only if the Kansas Legislature passes a similar law, or the Kansas governor issues an executive order.

JETMORE, Kan. (AP) — People from as far away as Oklahoma spent part of their holiday weekend at a 5-year-old southwest Kansas reservoir that got a big boost from steady rainfall last week.

KSN-TV  reports HorseThief Reservoir near Jetmore is about 65 percent full after gaining 7 feet last week, drawing people from all around to the few big bodies of water in western Kansas.

Reservoir manager Josh Hobbs says the project was met with a lot of skepticism, but it has shown it has the ability to hold water even in a prolonged drought.

The reservoir is part of the Pawnee Watershed and fed by about 1 million gallons of water a day from Buckner Creek, one of the only live creeks in the region.