Productivity killers in all shapes and sizes.

• Position: The Workplace

From hiding in the bathroom to testing the powers of hypnosis, some workers will do just about anything to avoid performing actual work while on the clock. In a survey from CareerBuilder, Chicago, III., employers discuss the most common productivity killers in the workplace, as well as some of the most bizarre things they caught employees doing while clocked in.

When asked to name the biggest productivity killers, employers cited cell phones and texting (52%), Internet (44%), gossip (37%), social media (36%), e-mail (31%), coworkers dropping by (28%), meetings (27%), smoke and snack breaks (26%), noisy coworkers (17%), and sitting in a cubicle (10%).

Employers also were asked to reveal the most unusual or memorable things they have found employees doing when they should have been working. Answers included an employee who was: taking a sponge bath in the bathroom sink; trying to hypnotize other employees to stop their smoking habits; visiting a tanning bed in lieu of making deliveries; looking for a mail order bride; playing a video game on a cell phone while sitting in a bathroom stall; drinking vodka while...