What do you do when you're bored at work?

[mjs1973]

I'm sitting here at work with next to nothing to do and it's made me wonder what others do during slow times at work? Surf the net? Go for a walk? Run some errons? How do you pass the time at work when you don't have much to do?

My cubicle is on the end of a row, with a very busy hallway directly behind me. There is nothing blocking the view of passer-bys from seeing what is on my screan. I have a row of directors that sit directly behind me and can see everything I do. I also have a manger right next to me who faces my monitor, and a VP right down the hall who walks past regularly. I'm getting a new desk, in a new location within the next week or two so that will all change. Along with that new desk will come new resposibilities so I'm hoping my down time will be reduced.

Some of the things I do to pass the time:

Help out other departments when needed
Surf the web when the coast is clear
Go for a walk around the building and to other buildings on campus
Talk to friends and coworkers
Instant Messanger
Pull images off of one of our servers and play with them in Photoshop
Listen to Wisconsin Public Radio
Listen & watch photography related podcasts on iTunes

So what do others do to get through the not so busy days at work?

[Asylum Steve]

I'm sitting here at work with next to nothing to do and it's made me wonder what others do during slow times at work?...

Well Michael, I guess I'm lucky enough that I can say I'm never or rarely bored at work. I have a nice balance now of field work (networking, scouting, shooting!) and desk work (digital imaging, phone calls and business paperwork crap).

OTOH, when I'm doing hardcore pc work, I do take a lot of breaks for health reasons (10+ hours looking at a computer screen and typing - not so good). :cryin: Fortunately, my office/studio/workstation is in my home, so there are a lot of nearby diversions.

Usually, if I stay on the computer, I either play Freecell ad nuseum, or I come to this site and muck around... :thumbsup:

If I want to take a break from the computer, I either eat and watch tv, or play around with my camera and studio gear. I'm also fixing up our house, so I budget time to do a little of that, and if it's not too hot in the early evening, I work in my garden (another never ending job, btw).:mad2:

[zrfraser]

well if I'm at my day job (right now) I surf the net, ride around campus, or take a nap if the boss is gone. I cut grass for my colleges athletic fields so down time isn't that much, and when I finish I get to go home but still get paid of 8 hrs. My night job is another story. I work for an office supply chain, and it is back to school time here in GA, and tax free is this weekend. Those who are not from GA tax free means back to school purchases, such as supplies and computers are all tax free. This in turn makes everybody go crazy. So we are gearing up for that this week, stocking, cleaning, prepping. So there is little down time there, but when I do have some I muck aroound with our digital cameras and computers, talk shop with other employees or customers. Its going to be a crazy week this week with both jobs combined I will be working 80 hrs. I wish I had some downtime this week.

Z

[another view]

Another vote for Freecell...

Well, I'm here and a couple of other forum sites. Like a lot of people, some days are crazy and others are a little slow. All works out in the end, I guess. I'm usually in the office and maybe have appointments a few times a month. I suppose I could run errands if I really needed to, but that would be pushing it a bit.

[mjs1973]

I don't think we even have Freecell on our systems at work.

I know one guy at work who has two systems at his desk and one of them is almost always on ESPN.com, or he's playing card games online. It's funny because he makes no attempt to hide the fact that he's not doing anything.

[fdpiech]

The rare times that I don't have anything to do at work, I'm out on the froums...

[natatbeach]

we rarely get a chance to be bored---but we are prone to moments of gathering and laughter and being crazy when we are overcome by the heat...since we haven't had A/C for two months and my boss is way preggers....we karaoke to the video and music palying and practice dance moves like NApoleon Dynamite lol---actually at least I do every one else just laughs at me----

[Devin MacShawn]

If I'm bored and the boss isn't around, I'll leave and go find some "personal" stuff to do. Sometimes I'll leave when he is there and I'll tell him I need to go pay some bills.

[SmartWombat]

Meetings - the alternative to work ...