How to Pass Down Time At Work

Having very little to do at work might seem like some employees dream, but for those of us with a little thing called Work Ethic, it's hard to just sit around and surf the web aimlessly on company time. So here's some things to do that aren't so much like goofing off.

• Filing: If you're anything like me, you have a big basket on your desk of completed forms or papers that need to be filed. If you're experiencing an awkwardly slow day (like I am), now is the time to kill an hour by sorting and filing all those papers overflowing from your done box.

• Spring Cleaning: Pay no attention that Spring is long gone. Most people don't keep their work area spit spot, so take the slow time as an opportunity to introduce some much needed organization into your workspace. Wipe off counters and shelves, throw away that tootsie roll you've been staring at since June, and make your area presentable.

• Catch Up: It seems that everyone has some low priority project or task at work that they keep in a drawer for a day like this. Knock those little menial projects out of the way now that you don't have something more important to focus on.
  

• Office Gardening: If you have plants in your office, take the time to groom them. All plants need their dead branches, buds, or leaves trimmed periodically. Grab your sheers (I'm the only person who keeps garden sheers in her desk? Okay fine, your scissors then) and trim the bad spots off your lovely plant. Throw some fertilizer in there or change those spikes. Your plant will love you for it.

• Refills: Have enough paper clips? Is there a full row of staples in that stapler? Now is the time to raid the supply cabinet and make sure you're stocked up on all the supplies you need to function smoothly. That way you're not stopping in the middle of a huge project later on to grab another pad of paper or a pen that works.

• Read Blogs: There's probably some blogs out there that pertain to your industry, so now is the chance to seek them out and read them. You'll gain some good insight and it's not really procrastinating since you don't have much else to do. In fact, you might just read something that inspires a project idea and then you don't have this boredom problem anymore!

• Blog: Heh... it's obvious I'm really slow right now, isn't it? Craft a really good blog with some good content. Or, if you have writer's block, seek out tools that can assist your blog in getting noticed. BlogRush seems to be a good one that I just added here yesterday and I can already see some traffic. If nothing else it's a nifty little widget to throw on your blog.

So get out there and make yourself useful!