Our favourite online distractions (for a Friday afternoon)

When people work online throughout the day, it’s easy to get distracted by all the weird and wonderful things you can find on the web. For example we recently found almost 60% of employees will search the web for shopping deals during working hours; this got us thinking about other internet distractions and we pulled together a list of our seven favourites.

Cats

Cats are funny creatures and what better place to showcase this than Youtube? From stalker cats to yoga-practising cats, French philosophical cats to cats that walk on their hind legs, the web has it all. Here is a particularly enjoyable video of a cat dressed as a pirate, better known as Pirate Cat:

 

 

Dogs

Everyone loves dogs. Even if you’re afraid of them, you can still appreciate their antics from behind a computer screen. There are soppy videos of dogs bonding with babies or being reunited with US army veterans, but the best involve funny voice overs and Denver the Guilty Dog takes the cake - or the kitty cat treats:

 

 

Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos

This website does what it says on the tin. From heads peeking around doors to abandoned garden chairs, Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos captures it all. If you’ve ever rented, bought, or sold a house you’re bound to know the look of average real estate photos but the chances are you’ll never have seen ones this bad.

Celebrities

The good thing about celebrities is that they do just as many strange things as the rest of us but people are more likely to see it. Take Miley Cyrus singing about her deceased blowfish while dressed in a unicorn onesie. The song is dedicated to Pablow and includes the stand-out lyric “watching my friends eat my friends ruined my appetite.”

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator 

Whether he’s speaking about the refugee crisis or playing a giant red dragon, people are obsessed with Benedict Cumberbatch. His recent CBE proves even the Queen loves him. The preoccupation with the actor might have something to do with his unusual and comical sounding name.

The Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator plays to this by offering hundreds of alternative similar sounding names, such as Rinkydink Curdlesnoot, Blubberbutt Capncrunch, and Fragglerock Cankersore. Warning: although hilarious, some of them are not suitable for work.

Parodies 

Not all parody videos are made equal but when they’re good, they’re really good. Parodies of music videos are arguably the most popular, but general pop culture references are regularly turned on their head by quick-witted youtubers. This leads to the meta nightmare of parodies of parodies of parodies, so while you get your head around that, why not watch the cast of He-Man sing “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes.

 

 

The Daily Mash 

Covering everything from news to opinion, sports to politics, The Daily Mash offers your daily dose of satire. If you’ve ever wanted to know why robins hate Christmas or why Nigella Lawson is under the control of an incubus, it’s the place for you. Maybe you’ll have a question for their agony aunt, a girl named Holly who’s no more than eight years old.

Grumpy cats, guilty dogs, or finding the funniest Benedict Cumberbatch-esque name shouldn’t interrupt your work too much. But while you’re here, why not distract yourself further by adding any distractions we’ve missed in the comments below. Then get back to work!