Goofing off is an American slang term for engaging in recreation or an idle pastime while obligations of work or society are neglected. Common obligations neglected in the course of goofing off include schoolwork, paid employment, social courtesies and the expectations of new relations. Goofing off at

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

is considered to be a regular

behaviour Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...

in the Western world, which is engaged in by all students at one time or another. When goofing off occurs within the classroom, teachers can resolve the matter quickly by direct confrontation.

Employer Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any ot ...

s may use

wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work (human activity), work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include wiktionary:compensatory, compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailin ...

premium Premium may refer to: Marketing * Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products * Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing ...

s to discourage goofing off by their

employee Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

s, although it is suggested that the effects of such

incentive In general, incentives are anything that persuade a person or organization to alter their behavior to produce the desired outcome. The laws of economists and of behavior state that higher incentives amount to greater levels of effort and therefo ...

s cause

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

to have a negative effect upon

earnings {{Short description, Financial term Earnings are the net benefits of a corporation's operation. Earnings is also the amount on which corporate tax is due. For an analysis of specific aspects of corporate operations several more specific terms are u ...

sooner than would be otherwise expected. Goofing off has been shown to improve work or study in the right environments, and can relieve stress. It may be a form of creativity and experimentation, providing useful learning experiences and discoveries. Some research has indicated that

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

tend to feel more

guilt Guilt most commonly refers to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music * ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims * "Guilt" ( ...

than

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

about taking time for themselves and so use breaks to become more organized.

References

External links

Goofing Off
; by Paul Roberts; Psychology Today; Jul/Aug 1995.

NPR; 16 Nov 2007.
Goofing Off In The Computer Age: Some Employers Crack Down On Use Of Company Computers
by Patrik Jonsson; CBS News; 18 Mar 2005.
More Time on Task, Less Goofing Off
by Fred Jones, Ph.D; Education World; 18 Aug 2003.

. By Steve Bass; PC World; 29 Dec 2004. {{Portal bar, Language Recreation

See also

References

External links