What do you do at work when there's nothing to do?

[tollbaby]

It was tons of fun, but of course we always stopped when a customer walked in or the manager came back.

And nobody ever wondered at the stray elastics all over the place? That's what got me busted...

[Jack T. Chance]

Well, back in August, I finally ended up back where I feel I belong: the furniture industry! Specifically, I work in a mattress store! Most days, I can count on one hand the number of customers I see!

This of course leaves me with LOTS of free time!

Some of my favorite ways to pass the downtime include:

• Watching DVDs on my portable DVD player!
• Surfing the web on my "CrackBerry" (our computers are so ancient at work, they run on MS-DOS and have monochrome green monitors! We're talking 20-year old tech here! Thank the Maker for my BlackBerry! ) That includes lots of time visiting my favorite messageboards. I don't spend as much time here as I used to, because I've had remarkably few truly sucky customers worthy of mention on these boards! I hope that trend continues!
• Reading and replying to emails or text messages, again on my beloved "CrackBerry"!
• Playing video games on my Nintendo DS... I especially love games with high replay value, such as Monopoly, Uno, Yahtzee, etc.
• Reading comics, graphic novels, or whatever magazine I have handy. Probably could read a novel, too, if I'd ever remember to bring one with me.
• Reading the local newspaper when it comes out on Thursday.
• Call and talk to some of my co-workers at other stores to see how their day's going.
• Call and talk to my friends and/or family members.

Yeah, I can always find something to do to pass the time, which is important when you work 11-hour days!

[Bella_Vixen]

Free time? If I have the time, I'll start on tomorrow's paperwork. When that's done, I'll start reading tabloids.

[Becks]

It really depends on whether the owner of the store is there or not, but I've been known to do the following:

*Hang out in the meat room
*Wander around the store
*Smoke
*Call my sister and/or fiance
*Read the Daily News and the Post
*Read tabloids
*Hang out in the hot foods department
*Read whatever book I have handy or find a decent one on the shelf
*Rearrange my work bag
*Ask for a raise for no good reason. (Raise pending)
*Tell myself that I have two cross stitch embroideries to work on
*Hang out with the cop(s) on duty, unless they're overly pervish
*Visit the customer service desk
*Visit with the guys in grocery
*Find new stickers to wear on my apron
*Look to see if anything good/interesting is on sale

[Ringtail Z28]

Bleh, they've started cracking down on internet use at work now. How the hell am I supposed to kill time now when there's nothing to do? I'd bring something to read but I work with too many thieves, I can only put up with my own sad attempts at drawing for so long. No wonder so many of my coworkers are pill-poppers.

[staticradio]

what to do?

Sudoku (when it is really dead...usually after 1AM)
clean register
clean front end
etc.

some people do squat their whole shift (or try to)...during the day!

[air914]

Bleh, they've started cracking down on internet use at work now. How the hell am I supposed to kill time now when there's nothing to do? I'd bring something to read but I work with too many thieves, I can only put up with my own sad attempts at drawing for so long. No wonder so many of my coworkers are pill-poppers.

That's what I'm always afraid of - if they take away my Internet, I don't know what I'll do to pretend to be productive.... again, I feel stupid going around asking anyone if they have anything to do - b/c I'm sure someone will finally come to the conclusion that - why do they need me if I never have anything to do???

[AirHostess]

I wish I could get the internet at 33000 feet.

I get so bored sat on my little jumpseat reading newspapers and magazines. I take along books for night flights.

[Ringtail Z28]

That's what I'm always afraid of - if they take away my Internet, I don't know what I'll do to pretend to be productive.... again, I feel stupid going around asking anyone if they have anything to do - b/c I'm sure someone will finally come to the conclusion that - why do they need me if I never have anything to do???

It's not just that, it's the feeling of being bored for long periods of time. Even with the internet it's still a boring office job.

[air914]

It's not just that, it's the feeling of being bored for long periods of time. Even with the internet it's still a boring office job.

Oh no I understand that - that's why I started the thread in the first place!

[Arcade Man D]

Back with the prior crew of workers, when I first started ((the SM and myself are the only two who worked there when I started and still work there)), we'd have sword fights with the plastic swords we had on display in the redemption counter. Or read the paper, or find something to clean/fix/tweak. Before a really busy day, the SM took a torn dollar bill ((less than 1/2, so it was worthless)), and stuck it under the leg of the air hockey table, so we'd watch people try to get it all day ((as it turned out to be not as busy as we thought. Took a week for someone to get it out.))

now.... not so much, as when there's no customers, I'm usually fixing the games that broke over the weekend.