I'm certain that Stack Exchange in general--and Stack Overflow in particular--has saved a huge amount in programmer productivity. However, what the OP hasn't ta

I'm certain that Stack Exchange in general--and Stack Overflow in particular--has saved a huge amount in programmer productivity. However, what the OP hasn't taken into account is that Stack Exchange sites can also suck up potentially productive time, as well. Although this loss is difficult to quantify, I'm sure it's not anywhere near the magnitude of time saved.