by: Rachel Slaiman
Granted there are days at where you have everything completed, there are still a few more hours to go and so what do you do? You could start playing Solitaire or chat with your neighbor about the weekend, but that would not be such a good idea. There may be some people that can get away with it, but if you are not good at it, don’t even try it. Here are some ways to look busy and disguise that you have some downtime.
Clean off your desk
Some people may be able to handle working in a pile of papers while others opt to keep everything nice and tidy. Either way, it is a good way to get organized and know where everything is at.
Read about the company
You now have access to the intranet and this is a great idea, especially for new hires, to figure out the discounts and other important information about the company. Some of the information may become very helpful down the road like the telephone directory or ways to participate within the company.
Add contacts into your work email
With email being extremely popular, you are bound to be sending emails back and forth to colleagues all over the world. Even if half of your contacts you may never email, it is still good to have them as a quick reference so that you can avoid asking your boss or colleagues for them.
Write a to-do-list
Nothing is more productive than writing down what has to be done for the next day or even the week. Once the list is written, see if you can knock off anything the day before and have one less thing to do for the next day.
Start tomorrow’s to-do-list today
Once your to-do-list is complete, see what you can cross off and get done while you have down time. You will notice that each day’s list may become shorter and the little tasks will not get left behind for another day. For example, generating reports can be a daunting task, but working on them a little bit at a time, will help ease the stress of cramming it before the deadline.
Educate yourself on things that relate to the whole company
Some people may not have a large background in their particular job setting, for instance, a hospital, but go online and find out more about the organization at large. This will allow you to not only appreciate your job a little more, but not feel so lost that you are unable to carry on a conversation with someone about the organization.
Clean out your mailbox
There is no better time to finally get to seeing what is in your mailbox and go through mail that has gone unanswered for a few days. Organize the mail right then and there so that you are not just transferring it from one pile to another. Let’s hope an important invitation did not get shoved to the bottom and you missed an opportunity for a great networking event. (Yes, some invitations may still come as hard copy and not through email).
No matter what, it never looks good that you are bored at work without anything to do. Remember the saying “time flies when you are having fun; it works well when there is down time to kill. Show enthusiasm and work hard and there would not be any reason for someone to say to a boss or gossip that you were doing “nothing”.
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