[corank]

Is there evidence showing that such things do boost productivity? Or any research on how they affect the way people work?

[upmind]

I can't think of a reason why it would improve productivity, can you think of anything?

[corank]

Perhaps these 1. Stress relief 2. Makes boring work a bit more interesting 3. Rubber duck debugging 4. A small amount of distraction might actually boost productivity by allowing us to jump out of a local optimum?