The Dos and Don’ts of Streaming At Work

Let’s face it: you spend eight hours a day at work, but how much work do you really get done? Between Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and GChat, you can hardly be expected to accomplish daily tasks and responsibilities. But with the wealth of streaming content you can watch? Forget it. You’re not doing any work today.

But watching television or movies at work isn’t always an easy task. What if your boss sits nearby, or conveniently walks by your cubicle and notices you’re spending a lotttt of time on YouTube? What if you’re catching up on Girls and Lena Dunham happens to take off her shirt just as your co-worker taps on your desk to ask about your lunch plans? What if you get so wrapped up in American Horror Story that you yelp out in terror in the middle of your quiet office?

There are some rules one must abide by to successfully stream at work. Let’s talk about some dos and some don’t, shall we?

Do Stream: Documentaries

You like facts, don’t you? Of course you do, you beautiful smartypants. Beef up for Saturday night’s dinner party by taking in some intriguing documentaries. Docs are a great thing to stream at work, because there are plenty that don’t rely on visual storytelling — two quick options include the Oscar-winning music film 20 Feet From Stardom (or, really, any of these essential music documentaries) and Capturing the Friedmans (or something equally scary and disturbing, if you’re feeling brave). It’s like listening to NPR or a podcast, but the stories aren’t current and you don’t have to listen to the host plug their Twitter accounts.

Don’t Stream: HBO Go

You crazy? Please, tell me, exactly, what show on HBO is appropriate for work? With the exception of a couple of documentaries and maybe some family-friendly movies, there’s not much on here that can’t wait for you to watch at home.

Do Stream: Web Series

Every week we bring you another web series worth watching in our regular Afternoon Delight column. So what are you waiting for? Sure, a lot of video sites like YouTube and Vimeo have apps on Roku (or can be streamed via Chromecast), but if you’re going to be stuck sitting at a computer all day, you might as well take advantage of the time by knocking through some of the great series we’ve shared with you so far. Bonus: there are rarely any naked people, because they know their audience is made up of people who are bored at work. A good place to start? The current indie darling, High Maintenance.

Don’t Stream: Racy Network Shows

Look, just because it’s SFABC (safe for ABC) doesn’t mean it’s SFW. Shows like Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder definitely push the envelope with their frank sexual subject matter — it’s not rare to see boning in the midst of solving PR crises or, uh, helping people get away with murder. While that’s OK for after dark, it’s definitely too early in the day for boning law students — even if you wait until after lunch. The same thing goes for American Horror Story, which is sometimes NSFL (Not Safe For Life), and Sons of Anarchy (so many butts).

Do Stream: Long, Epic, Classic Movies

True story: I was working in my first entry-level data entry job back in 2006-ish when Netflix changed the game and introduced its streaming content. Suddenly, my job wasn’t so boring because I had a mini TV in my double-monitor set-up; I’d make a tiny window just big enough for Netflix and watch plenty of movies while I plugged in my numbers. Yes, I followed all of the rules highlighted above, but I also realized what was really great about the Netflix at work system: I could finally blow through all of those movies in my queue that I was never in the mood for when I got home from the office. But when you’re stuck in front of a computer for eight hours? That’s a perfect time to finally watch Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago.

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Photos: Everett Collection