Is Answering Online Surveys a Waste of Time?

Is answering online surveys really a waste of time? I think not. If you really have time to waste just watching TV or playing computer or mobile games which gives you entertainment at that point and nothing else after. Why not try to be productive during your idle time? Answering surveys is not a really a bad idea.

Why? Your honest opinion in surveys helps businesses to make better products and services for us consumers to use.  It is also used by institutions to analyze and better understand public views about current news & affairs.  At the same time, you earn extra money just by answering multiple choice questionnaires or ticking a mark to answer and this won't even make you sweat.

Answering surveys will not be a waste of time when you do it to spend your time wisely.  For example, you may do it while taking time on these activities;

1) Waiting for the bus or train to arrive while going to work or going back home.

2) Waiting in line to buy food, movie tickets etc.

3) Waiting for your friends & loved ones in your meeting place.

4)  Waiting in queue for your business/personal transaction to be served.

5)  While seating at the toilet to poop

Most of the legitimate and paying survey sites have mobile applications for IOS and Android phones so you can do it wherever and just whenever you need to kill time and avoid boredom.

The reward or pay range for answering surveys vary from site to site but it typically ranges from a few dollar cents to a couple of dollars per survey depending on the length of the survey. If it is by point system like that of YouGov Philippines, it is convertible to mobile load card, gift cards to stores/restaurants, charity donation or cash via Paypal.

Here in the Philippines, a burger meal at Mc Donalds or Jollibee will only cost us US$2. So imagine that when you're answering a few surveys while waiting in line to order your favorite burger, you are actually earning to pay for your next burger meal.

Also, the minimum wage here in Pampanga, Philippines is only P400. That is equivalent to P50 per hour which is less than 1 US$. As of this writing, the US dollar exchange rate to Philippine Peso is P53.51.

Mobrog.com for example pays .50 US dollar cents to US$3 per survey.  To earn the aforesaid minimum daily wage, you only need to earn US$7.48 from surveys which can be from answering 4 to 5 surveys that you can complete in 1 hour. What if you can answer more in 1 day in different survey sites.

See, the pay you can get for a whole day worth of work can only be earned in 1 hour ticking the multiple choice options in answering surveys. Well, that's the case here in the Philippines where US dollar is 53 times fold. It is an advantage for countries whose US$ value is equivalent to multiple amount in their own currency.

However, the number of surveys you can partake to depends on the country where you're at, the clients of the survey site, the profile and interests you've filled up in the survey site. Some sites offer more surveys to members who are more active than the others.

As much as you want to earn more from having enough patience to answer surveys, you might just be able to do so by joining a few or several sites.

At the moment, I've been trying the sites - YouGov, CashCrate & Mobrog. However, I do not recommend YouGov & Mobrog based on the first week of my experience.  Cashcrate is better than the 2 aforementioned sites so far.  Global Test Market is another legitimate site.

As a recap, answering surveys is not a waste of time if you would do it during waiting time and to kill your boredom. At least your time is not really wasted as you've become a little productive earning some pennies in those idle moments.