Posted Friday, March 22--- 5:22 p.m.

The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are what some call the least productive work days of the year with employees watching the games online at work, taking extended lunch breaks, or ditching work altogether.

"This is a bigger deal for me than Christmas," said Andy Craven who took off Thursday and Friday from work to watch the NCAA tournament.

The first couple of days of the NCAA tournament has become a holiday for many, which means fewer people in the work place.

In fact, Bleacher Report names the first two days of march madness the least productive work days of the year in their top list.

Those who are still at work are not necessarily working with access to the games right at their fingertips.

"People research the games online the whole week. I'm sure it is a low productivity week for everybody," said Craven.

MSN and Impulse Research shows 66% of workers will be following the tournament during work hours.

Global firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.'s survey found one-third of employees will spent at least three hours of their work day keeping up with the games.

While loss of productivity is a concern for some offices, others like M3 Insurance in Madison are embracing it.

"We can't pretend like people aren't thinking about the game," said Human Resources Manager, Alicia Kiser.

So they put the games on in several locations around the office.

Kiser said, "Work's getting done, but we're definitely have fun while we do it."