We’re in the thick of March Madness this week, which means office brackets, sneaking a look at games through the day, and reportedly, millions of dollars of lost productivity.

A Challenger, Gray & Christmas annual study estimates a loss of $134 million in productivity over the first two days of the tournament this year. The firm calculates that from survey findings that roughly 3 million workers will spend one to three hours following the games instead of working over those days.

So is all this basketball fever a problem? Our resident expert Brandon Smith doesn’t think so. (And, coincidentally, neither does John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.)

Brandon Smith teaches about leadership, communication, and workplace culture at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. More of his advice is on his blog and at theworkplacetherapist.com. While you’re there, ask him your workplace or career question. We might use your question on a future radio segment.

Tags: basketball, college basketball, career counseling, Brandon Smith, workplace, working, career, march madness