The use of internet‐based tools during work for personal purposes is a widespread phenomenon in both private and public organisations. By analysing 30 in‐depth interviews with cognitive workers in Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this study explores the ways in which contemporary workers engage in, experience, and rationalise personal Internet use at work. The results show that inter‐generational differences, organisational culture, and the patterns in the organisation of labour affect how workers experience and rationalise the phenomenon of PIUW. This study contributes to the organisational literature with an analysis of how contemporary cognitive workers experience navigating between working and non‐working activities in the workplace.