I’ve always associated increasing productivity with working harder. After all, productivity bears success and the price of success is hard work. And hard work means spending more time at the office, taking shorter breaks and skipping the occasional lunch just to meet deadlines.

True, doing more work more ofter might lead to increased productivity, which is a good deal if I don’t mind putting in a little extra time and forfeiting any hint of a social life. But new research suggests there’s an easier way that I can boost productivity simply by hanging a picture of a cute baby panda bear on the wall of my cubicle – one with a round face and big blue eyes that stare back at me every time I sit in front of the keyboard.

It sounds dumb, but exposure to cuteness is believed to bolster productivity, according to recent studies conducted by Hiroshima University in Japan. The study indicates that cute, furry faces (like those of baby pandas) set off a human’s innate desire to become more nurturing. Evidently, we’re drawn to cute, cuddly things that exemplify youth, vulnerability and harmlessness. Cuteness even has an effect that triggers pleasure centers of the brain, the same pleasure centers aroused by good food or habit-forming drugs.