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 work on an emergency team and between 3am and 6am it goes very quiet but if the phone rings it's pretty much literally because someone is dead or seriously injured.
In those quiet hours when I still need to be on the ball I usually watch Netflix with headphones on to be honest. Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I listen to a podcast.

I do some training that's related to my job, but I'm in tech, so that may not be for everyone. A whole day would be luxury!

I would think about how to plan my workload more strategically, so that I save enough to keep me busy on the days I have to be in the office, and do the skiving on the days I was at home. And I wouldn’t leave the office day to a Friday, that was really poor planning.

lol - this would never happen at my job so just can’t imagine it at all.

Will your screen be visible to anyone who walks in suddenly? If not, I'd just watch netflix, do some christmas shopping, go down a rabbit hole of finding info about a subject I enjoy, scroll MN, catch up on social media etc.

What would happen if you were 'caught' knitting? Could you just pass it off as having a quiet hour with not much on? Will there be lots of people walking in? Could you say "I'm on a break" if you are 'caught'?

I would probably crack on with writing my novel.

In my job I'd hide in the kitchen and gossip with the kitchen staff.

In your position I'd read, browse Mumsnet, do my online groceries and listen to a podcast/audio book.

Do you like reading? There is so much available on Project Gutenberg and it's just a PDF on your screen. Google Earth can be entertaining. Go on a 'walk' in places you'd like to visit. Make a plan for what you'd like to accomplish in 2025, and perhaps make a spreadsheet to match? Make a recipe book of things you'd like to try.

So are there more staff employed than are needed to cover the work?

How about writing your Christmas cards?

When I run out of stuff to do at work I do personal stuff. So I work on my finances spreadsheet, do some meal planning, write my shopping list and other general life admin. It's easy enough to make it look like work should anyone happen to burst in. But then, I'm in a low paid admin role and only work part time. So maybe no one cares.

Say that you are on your lunch if they come in

Here's what I do when im bored at work:

My tax return
Read a book
The ocado order
The Xmas ocado order
Watch the new episode of 'day of the jackal' which is excellent if you haven't seen it
Pay my bills online
Have a sleep with the office door locked
Go for a long walk at lunchtime
Make a hot drink every hour
Polish my glasses
Read mumsnet
Eat

To be honest if I had so much free time and I was due to retire in the next few years I would probably try to earn some extra money. Is there anything you could do freelance? There's no point leaving that job if it's so easy!

How long have you got before you can retire?

I am in the same boat op. Technically I am the most senior person onsite. I report to 8 people offside. They really don't seem to care once required reports etc are sent to them. They seem bemused that I do not spend two weeks on a report that realistically take 10-15 minutes to complete.

I am really struggling to be honest. At the moment moment I am doing any online courses that I can remotely link with my job. I am in Ireland and there are plenty of energy efficient course I can do. I am also paying for some online course related to work. In fairness I will be able to claim that money back if I want to.

I just cannot imagine a work day like this. Rather jealous though I could easily get very bored on my own in an office. I think I would have to start some sort of online course or language learning.

Assuming I had access to my laptop:
sort out my email inbox (work and personal)
look for courses I could do, or pick a free online course and see if I could do it in a day!

But I am a technical writer so if I was really bored, then I'd just start writing stuff for fun!

I would use the time to do online training that is linked to a promotion or a different career path.

If this happens regularly then I’d do an OU course.

I can’t stand having nothing to do and I’ve found quite a few free courses online on the very rare occasion when I don’t have much to do.

It's literally Black Friday tomorrow. Get all your Xmas shopping done! Hang around on mumset. Get any life admin sorted.

My job can be like this. I have to be available to help and sometimes no one wants help 🤷🏼‍♀️

house is clean, laundry done, mail online (sorry) read, mumsnet scoured, tomorrow I shall put the Xmas tree up

if I was in the office I’d simply be chatting to other colleagues

it goes the other way often and I can’t even take the time to pee

CPD, filing, housekeeping on my computer and if the worst came to the worst reading professional journals, professional standards (ie unverifiable CPD)! Alternatively, I could vacuum, clean the toilet, wash up, etc because DH and his partner won’t pay for a cleaner!

I used to have a job like this (local council). I had to be at my desk but often days would go past when I had literally nothing to do as I'd get all of my work done in the first hour or so and other than that it was just answering the phone or emails if someone got in contact, which was rare.

But I knew IT monitored our computers so I couldn't be online shopping for example. That's quite standard practice so I'm surprised at the number of suggestions for it!

I used to spend ages organising my calendar and tidying up my inbox. I'd also go on the Long Reads website and download loads of articles into a Word document so I could read that at work. I started writing a book at one point!

I'd also do free online courses and watch Ted talks or read websites related to my industry. Actually, one of the courses helped me move into another job.

Are you on LinkedIn? That can waste a bit of time.

Make an early start on my next uni assignment.
Filing.
I hate not being busy at work it makes the time drag. I'd probably help my colleagues out with their work tbh.

Tomorrow specifically, I'd be doing my Christmas shopping in the Black Friday sales! If I was really all up to date with work that is.

Can you draft training notes to help your other team members improve their efficiency? Document your role and what you do in preparation for when you retire.