Online games are blocked at work. Even the standard solitaire and minesweeper have been removed from my government issued computer. This can cause lots of problems when there is a severe lack of work to be done, which happens frequently. I have concocted a list of activities that serve to entertain me for most of the day before I get to go home and snuggle up with the boy and watched something beautiful on tv like Ken Burns' National Park videos or Planet Earth.
The first thing I do is update my budget. Since I am bored at work and have a tight a budget with all these student loans I have to pay off, I keep a very tight grasp on my expenses. I check my bank account and credit card statement daily. I record all my purchases. I update my mint account expenses to properly fall into the proper "budget categories". I calculate when I can pay off all my loans. I also play around with how much money I have to play with and how much is already doled out to set expenses. With the new move coming up, this has become the most fun because I am trying to see how long I can ACTUALLY go without a job and still make rent in NYC. It gets to be really fun! This all lasts for about ten minutes.
The next thing I do is go through my google reader! The best thing about the reader is that most of my blogs are blocked for one reason or another but they still feed through to my reader. Thank goodness. If I have a lot to read, this can keep me entertained for at least an hour.
I play solitaire on my company issued computer! This can be my saving grace when it's Friday and my favorite blogs are not updating as frequently. I try not to play too much because inevitably, my boss will catch me doing this. At least the other things look like I am busy doing something important, like internet research. I limit myself to ten minutes at a time.
When my boss is working from home, I take really long lunches. Since I normally bring my lunch and eat at my desk, this gives me the freedom to explore the nearby DSW. I feel as though this activity is work related because I usually am in search of work appropriate shoes. I try to stay within an hour limit in case someone in the office starts to notice I am gone.
I have started reading at my desk. This can be a tricky one if people tend to walk by a lot. They always want to know what you are reading so you can rarely pass it off as a work related text. I need to find some appropriate book covers in the future to help with this. This can take up at least two hours of your time if not more if you are good.
I do chair yoga. This is perfect because if someone catches me, I just tell them my shoulders were killing me from hunching over my computer and I needed a short break. Most people see this as legitimate and will ask you to show them some moves. This also really helps to relax and refocus when you are stressed. After about ten minutes, most yoga poses appropriate for an office have been exhausted.
Making lists is another way to use up time and is very productive. I am constantly making lists of things I need to do, things I need to buy, things I want to see, etc. This helps me organize my time after work to be the most efficient. It also keeps me from forgetting things, because I do that a lot. This varies by week day. Usually Friday and Monday allow the most time for list making because I can plan the week and weekend respectively. The middle days are usually all planned out.
I am always looking for new ways to waste time. I am hoping at whatever new job I take, I won't have to worry about this. :)
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