Take a certification course.

if you're on here, I'd say you're doing it. I play a lot of solitaire.

Watercooler talk. Ask about peoples weekends, their hobbies, their kids, etc. Ask how project xyz is going. Actually meet and be interested in your coworkers as people - once you get to know them, a lot of them will turn out to actually be quite cool. And this is good, because your life is better when you know more cool people, and can show up to work every day feeling like you are going to spend time with a bunch of people who give a shit about you.

But ALSO, this is a crucial workplace/career strategy called networking. Want to learn new skills? Solve problems faster? Get raises and promotions? All these things are far easier when you have coworkers who know and like you. Want a different/better job? Your coworkers can be your references and tell you about job openings they hear about. When a coworker or manager finds a new job, they can often bring you with them.

And even if none of this pans out professionally, you are still practicing the skill of giving a shit about people and opening up to them, which is extremely useful in all aspects of life.

But if you've already asked everyone how their kids are, you can start working on improving something. In every job there are boring repetitive tasks that can be streamlined, or error prone tasks that could become less error prone, etc. Think of solutions to these problems, and try implementing these solutions for yourself or a few others on a large scale. Once you prove it works, it can be implemented by the rest of the company (note: make sure you take the credit). Things like this, which often only take maybe an hour or two for the rough implementation, are often the most impressive line items on your resume.

And if you just hate your job and your coworkers so.much that you cant stomach either of these suggestions... spend the time applying to other jobs.

Whatever but remember you must look busy

If you're forced to use Excel at all, there is an in spreadsheet version of Sonic the hedgehog.

Depends on the job? Water cooler talk, doze off for 2h. Play browser games or retro games, maybe an MMORPG or do 6h flights in MS Flight Simulator. Write your memoires, knit a scarf or read all the Witcher books... Run your drop-shipping side-business while at the computer anyway. "Fetch supplies." Listen to podcasts or learn a new programming language. Polish all the fire extinguishers in the building. Read the newspaper. Or maybe re-decorate the office frequently. You can use the office printer for that. You can also use it to print out Mandala templates and then color them in yourself.

Industry idle, universal paperclips

Honestly I usually like to read up on my field. Scrolling hackernews or lobsters and reading the programming/tech articles there isn't immediately productive to work, but at least I could plausibly make the case for it.

Tho I guess all in all it depends on how much leeway you have.

I have never had to really worry about it. There was like a ticket queue and like you can always try to get updates with requests and projects.

I bring a full Kindle. I can start and stop whenever needed, pick back up where I left off.

Ever since college I've been really into taking notes by hand. Over a decade into the workforce, I haven't stopped. Originally it was because I heard it helps you encode information more effectively for tests (and I was horrible at tests), but now I just do it because I love it.

It looks productive (and does help me), but it's mostly just really satisfying to make marks on a page. It's a good excuse to practice penmanship too (though I use a pencil, because it's better for shading the occasional doodle (try to get one in every two pages hehe)).

I use it as a kind of rubber duck (increasingly needed since many "knowledge workers" are compelled to "chat" with their corporate minders rather than exchanging ideas...). I have this baroque system of writing tasks, Q&As, observations, and ideas. I've developed my own shorthand, as well as a variety of domain specific symbols that I find personally meaningful and beautiful. And this is all "notebook meta" that I can faff away on if I feel my attention slipping for work.

I could go on but yeah

Blobby Volley

Doing work

Generally like to read a book.

.45 calibre.

Oh, wait not time clock, my bad

For real, if you can get away with it, long bathroom breaks where you can read.

Try spacing your activities if possible. That way, slower times are much smaller and you should be able to do your activities more calmly.

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