What would you do at work if you had nothing to do?

[DancingTurtle]

This is me tomorrow, 9 'til 4. I have access to an office where I can be on my own and would have about 2 seconds warning of someone coming in.

I would reach out to my manager/team and tell them I have some free time to support them if needed…

I’d work on my diary, organise my Christmas stuff.
Or find out if there’s anything else I can help with.

Are you being paid to physically be there for a reason? Ie reception, security, public facing role?
If not I'd just stay at home.
If you had to be there just watch videos, read, chat online, drink cans of gin and tonic? 🤣

I can't imagine a job where I would have nothing to do!

Organise the drill bits but that’s probably quite niche 🤣
Nap
Internet shop

I cannot get away with another day "working from home".

I’d work on my diary, organise my Christmas stuff. What does this mean? Do you mean personal or at work?

If you had to be there just watch videos, read, chat online, drink cans of gin and tonic?

I really don't want to rely on food as I'm putting on weight. Some gin is a good idea!
I can take my kindle, but not sure I can read for 7 hours.

I'd be doing online training that I never get a chance to do, weeding emails, replying to people that I haven't replied to in ages...
Why is being in an office different to WFH for you? Will you not just do what you'd normally do in a day's work?

Write your Christmas cards, lists, etc your diary for 2025 - both work and personal, google holidays….

I'd clean data, scour the internet for new potential prospects and run emailers to generate leads.

But that's my job anyway and I seldom have any spare time.

What does your manager want you to do? Do that. To be honest I expect my team to manage their work load a bit better than turning around the day before they have availability and saying they are free tomorrow.

Sort out filing both paper and electronic
rainatr new projects
research skills I find interesting

What would do if you were working from home? Surely any job of that type has plenty of things you can be working on in the background. If not, I would be worrying about the sustainability of your job.

I would delete/file emails and documents so I could do my job more effectively on busier days.
Some research on an area of work.
Some reading of work specific articles/newspapers.

I'd be doing online training that I never get a chance to do, weeding emails, replying to people that I haven't replied to in ages... Why is being in an office different to WFH for you? Will you not just do what you'd normally do in a day's work?

I don't have online training and my inbox is empty. At home I don't have to look busy, I can do housework, cook etc. around being on top of my work.

My manager only comes to our site once a week and we don't really spend any time together then. He's happy that my targets are exceeded and I'm way ahead of my colleagues.

I used to work in a call centre where all calls would be switched off and redirected to another call centre abroad with zero notice so we would spend entire shifts with nothing at all to do. We weren't allowed our phones or any Internet access and had to keep our headsets on at all times in case the calls were switched back on!
We used to read books, play board games and cards, study, do crochet or other crafts, and rewite our CV's! This went on for months until unsurprisingly everyone got made redundant.

I am toying with the idea of taking my knitting in @hazelnutlatte but not sure I could hide it quickly enough if someone came in.

I have a massive backlog of ( work related) reading around my subject area, email inbox to organise notes to type, web pages and files to organise and sort through. I would love a day to get sorted and catch up.

What do you normally do for work? Why can't you do that from the office?

I'd get my holiday requests in for the next 6 months, clear out my emails, maybe watch something work related.

I’d be job searching looking for a new job, I hate having nothing to do

I can't imagine having nothing to do at work. Is the company going under? Or are you quiet quitting?

What do you normally do for work? Why can't you do that from the office?

I normally work from the office, I just have no work left to do this week.

Blimey, if you can get away with doing so little and still be way ahead of your colleagues, they must be so far behind, they're stuck in the last century?

I’d be job searching looking for a new job, I hate having nothing to do
I did that today. Not much coming up at this time of year, and I would lose my autonomy in the nature of the organisations that were recruiting. I will be bored tomorrow but better that than being micromanaged.