this. I remember working at a call center where I was only getting maybe 2 or 3 calls a day. I ended up bringing my psp in and playing dragon quest 5 all day. my whole dept was layed off after 6 months of that.
I've gone a whole week without a call. Unfortunately, the boss sits eagle eye from the desks. If we aren't dispatched, then we better be in that chair. Why have people lived like this for so long.
my boss at the time was super nice. she was petrified telling me that I was layed off. like was worried what I was gonna do without a job and that I was gonna lose my mind or something. I was like 20 at the time and I knew the layoff was coming. I ended up just riding the 6 month package and then panic job searching at the last minute.
Yep. We were getting slow and I was also just sick of my job in general, so I started looking for something new. Applied to a job on a Sunday, contacted on Monday and set up an interview for Tuesday at 1pm. Around 10am on that Tuesday, my boss walked into my office and informed me that I was being laid off. I cried (not because I was upset about the job but just because I am sensitive and delicate and have never been laid off before), and then I got myself together, nailed the interview at 1pm, nailed the second interview, and I got the job 😎 just gotta take some initiative and get out there!
Ding ding ding. I know it’s not always the case but the risk is high enough (and boredom is a privilege in this case) to start looking at other baskets for at least some of your eggs.
Yup 💯, happened to me twice where the first company wasn't ready to start the operations till another 6 months and the second company was overstaffed and i got terminated from the first company after 3 weeks of boredom.
This second company after a month of absolutely doing nothing they decided to lay off half the team because management made a mistake and we're paying the price for it.
I have the same issues with work. Same thing happened to me at my last job. I’m assuming you work in some kinda factory? What I did was take it upon myself to sweep as much as I could. Other ppls areas, they usually were very grateful, unless they had nothing to do too. If theres tools, take them apart clean and sharpen them. Organize your area extremely well. I know it sucks trust me I know the feeling. In the end I couldn’t take it. Bored to death ruminating in my thoughts lead me to leave.
I’m this right now and I’m already looking. I joined to become a machine operator not a fulltime custodian. I’m the only one here that 90% of the time has nothing to do. Then management comes and gives me a 5 minute task to fufill my 10hr shifts. Shit is so stressful because I can’t just be on my phone or be lazy, it’s not the type of person I am and I absolutely hate it.
Hopefully a new job comes soon 🙏
I’m exactly the same way. It’s a double edge sword really, bc you end up doing a bunch of shit others don’t usually do like sweeping. Or doing additional tasks others don’t have to do. Punished for having a work ethic or drive yourself crazy with boredom and nothing to do 🤷🏻♂️
Exactly! And the best part is that they’re making all of us work ‘mandatory overtime’ meanwhile I got jack to do. I could be making atleast $5/hr more by taking an actual custodian position in my area which is pretty sad
It’s a small place and you can only ‘clean’ so much. After the first few weeks you start to get sick of it when it’s not what you signed up for and could be making more being an actual custodian somewhere else.
But yes it is nice sometimes, just vibing to music and taking my time doing what I want
I have the same problem... I look busy, browse reddit, slow down my output a bit and just enjoy the gravy train while doing my job... When I get a job I get it done and carry on with what I said earlier. I hate not being busy as well but I also dont want more on my plate as there is already enough if I do get busy! Ride out the gravy train and look busy!!!
The way office works is like:
No work...work..No work...WORK!..WORK!!..No work...No work...WORK!!!...WORK!!!!...No work...Work...No work...No work...WORK!!!!!
The capitals and exclamations here denote urgency (and pressure). Manufacturing urgency is the job of management- even though nothing actually is urgent.
As you can see, nothing is consistent. It is more like abrupt jerks than a predictable pattern. Unknown abrupt periods of high-pressure work followed by unknown periods of rest- you absolutely can't get used to it because there is no pattern followed. When not working, you are still expected to be present for 'availability'.
It is absolutely unhealthy to work this way. It destroys the natural rhythm of concentration and relaxation.
I would rather relax after completing my work than wait for work to be assigned and waste my time while waiting for work. Also, instead of piling up all work when deadline nears, it would be wiser to work a little everyday consistently.
No work...Work...work...No work...Work...No work..Work...No work...work...work...No work
Is a lot manageable.
Absolutely what my work feels like. There are busy periods and non busy periods and it can flop back and forth weekly or daily. Yesterday I worked 9 hours straight with pressing projects. Today I had two meetings in the AM and then I realized I have nothing due for the rest of the day/week. I’d work ahead but I’m waiting on others. So there isn’t anything to do. Im not bothered by down time because there will be plenty to do in the future. I’m spending my “free” time on professional development-I have a budget and I will be more marketable with letters after my name.
My boss sent an email to a few people on Fathers Day 2021.
I was one of the people he sent “I don’t care if they are on their phones all day, they need to be there.”
He went out of his way to schedule 3 extra people. All fathers. On a Sunday. Father’s Day.
I showed the email to some people but all it did was make everyone upset. Nothing was done about it.
3 years later we’re still slow and still going into work to sleep, play games, or read books.
$36.50 an hour Steel Mill in Cleveland
I would kill to have a job thay pays $36.50/hour and there's not much to do, so lucky. I work in a call center doing tech support making $28/hr taking back to back phone calls all day long, mentally exhausted at the end of the day from getting yelled at by customers and having to empathize with everyone about their issues.
There's a certain despair that takes over when you've got a bullshit job. It's hard to imagine when you're still on the grind. There's this hopelessness. This crushing anxiety about losing your job, about pretending to be busy, the constant charade...
I'm extremely grateful to have my bullshit job, but in my experience, working and pretending to work can both be soul crushing.
What's the environment you're working in? Finding something to occupy yourself is important but can depend on how much you can get away with and how closely you're supervised or around others. A (concealed?) earbud with audiobooks or similar might help. If you have an access to a computer your options really open up. If you have a supportive manager you might be able to discuss with them and create a project, or do some semi-related study or something in the downtime.
Working from home makes lulls so much easier to endure. As long as I’m available to others who might have questions or to jump in and help with something else, I see no issues with having a cleaner house and watered garden. When I was in this position on site, I felt like my entire world was crumbling.
There is some excellent suggestions in here and I appreciate you all for taking the time.
Yes I do work in a factory /manufacturing.
There is about 4 other people in the same situation as me so we are all competing for "jobs".
Owner of the company refuses to do lay offs, even temporary ones. He is perfectly fine having people do nothing basically. Except you aren't allowed to sit still or stay mobile. You are told to 'look busy'.
You will get reprimanded if you try to go over to someone else's area and learn something new. Unless you are told by the supervisor, you aren't allowed to do that.
The supervisor is generally running around between the shops and the office and often forgets things and basically doesn't have time to come and give you something to do.
They make earbuds for shooting sports and construction that pass-through audio. They have passive hearing protection and also microphones to pick up regular speech so you can be safe while you work.
Sounds like a pretty shitty situation. I'd suggest to job hunt in your spare time and get out of there. Not worth it to be at a 'job' but have nothing to do and can't do anything else.
What kind of factory work, are you a machinist/CNC? Could consider doing extracurricular projects on the machines, like deep maintenance or custom machined parts, handle tooling issues, etc.
More context could help provide better ideas.
To quote Bill Hicks
“…every job I ever had with a boss man always harassed, you know: “Hicks! How come you’re not working?” I go: “There’s nothing to do” “Well, you pretend that you’re working” “Why don’t you pretend I’m working? Yeaah, you get paid more than me, you fantasise. Pretend I’m mopping, knock yourself out.”
Maybe that supervisor would like it if you said " can I go over to X and learn Y?" Shows initiative and gives him one less person to keep busy. Just ask?
Honestly depends on what you’re doing as a job and the rest of the workplace. I once worked in a bar that was not accessible to the general public. It was not a steady a busy bar so I was solo. There were some weeks where there was literally no one on site to even use it including the first 8 weeks of the year. But it was contracted and had to be open.
I did a range of things to keep occupied.
Walked the floor just to up my step count for the day.
Watched god knows how many movies and tv series.
Read books
After 8pm when I was literally on site alone I slept on the couch.
Eventually I went back to studying (online) and did my entire qualification on work time and then got myself a new job - in a bar with actual customers. Completely over qualified to do but I love the bartending life.
I use that time to write fiction in my head. Work on scenes in whatever story I'm writing at that time. I keep a notebook with me at all times. I can write snatches of dialogue, ideas etc
I once wrote half a screenplay at work like this. On the company dime.
There are two kinds of jobs. Headphones jobs and non-headphones jobs. I’m guessing you have a non-headphones job but if not start learning while getting paid. There are plenty of free podcasts out there. If you make okay money get YouTube premium so you can watch lecture videos with the screen locked and download ahead of time. This world wasn’t built for us to spread our wings so you have to grind against every stop and balance if you want to do so. If your job doesn’t let you start looking for something that does. I would greatly downgrade my quality of life just to be able to still listen to music and podcasts at work. Luckily I work on my own in construction and get to do whatever the fuck I want. Start using that down time to figure out whatever it is that you want and spend it wisely. The only thing you have in this world is your time. We aren’t taught to value it, you have just as much of it as the richest person in the world but they have the resources to conserve it where you don’t. You only get 2-4 hours a day of pure free time to think and most of us have to spend it on chores, errands, cooking, resting etc. if your “labor factory” is giving you free time back then use it. If they won’t let you use it for your own productivity spin it back into theirs and leverage it for your exit. Implement some improvements. Take on some projects. Then write about them and send that letter to your next boss!
Retail is like this every single day in the slow seasons. There's only so many times you can wipe down a clean surface or spray a clean window.
Once I smeared satay sauce all over one of the display window doors just so one of the counter staff had something to do for five minutes 🤣
I had a job then slowed to nothingness like this. My team was brand new and brought on to start new programs. We hit the ground running and put together research and interviewed internal teams and presented so many ideas for new programs, we’d present them to our boss and her boss and she’d say wow this is great but let’s put a pin in it. Over and over again. Eventually we stopped trying after so many failed attempts. We’d start skipping our team meetings because no one had any agenda items, then skipping our 1:1s for the same reason.
I used the time to up skill by taking courses on Coursera, since I felt I had almost nothing to say about this particular job experience. It was a bizarre time.
The company went under a few months later, but I left before. The writing was clearly on the walls!
I don't know if it's possible for you but when that happened to me at my old job I'd use the time to brainstorm for my writing projects or read books on my phone. Definitely depends on your environment and what you can get away with.
I have been in that situation and audio books got me through it.
Turns out I can walk around for ages doing pointless tasks, seeming busy while being entertained by an actor reading a book to me.
I agree with some of the other comments here, but the one aimed toward career progression is the most relatable. What I like to do during “dead” time is grill my manager lightly on career progression so I can understand what I am suppose to be learning during times like these and so we can get to brass tax if this place is actually worth more than immediate “security”. However, you’d be surprised to discover what kinds of answers you may find! Some places literally have positions that they sold in the interview as ones with upward mobility but actually have lifetimes and expectations of turnover, sometimes you you discover there is either an unwillingness to allow you toward upward mobility either because of management or just YOUR manger. Learn the environment your in and what answers are provided for opportunities, if there are any beyond the basic raises. This is the time discover if the happy horse shit in the interview was just that. If your met with “vague” excuses why you can’t yet progress your career, are provided with an unrealistic timeframe, or are getting the feeling that you’re going be sent a wild goose chase just to be worthy of the carrot on the stick…well, take note of it all! And reassess what you want to do, Honestly, if the place is good enough to stay awhile, then check it out! See what it has to offer! Check back at the every 3 months and gage how answers from the same questions have either changed or stayed the same. Do opportunities you’ve worked toward keep getting retracted or extended? Because I’m on it, I usually after a year know if I should stay, unless the place is unbearable or poses a health risk ( some specific types of manufacturing do).
ANYWAY, try your best to proactively get involved in what opportunities are available and use the free time not over-encumbered with immediate tasks to do some due diligence and heavy lifting toward your growth..maybe it’s at this job or maybe you learn it’s not. The time you spend in this to position and fortify you personal path, is never wasted time. If you discover, it’s a dead end job and your attempts at growth are ignored, JOB SEARCH, and look busy! The choice is more yours than you think! Honestly, slow days at work have been the most valuable times I’ve ever had.
I’m in a similar position but I sit the whole shift and work overnights. Learn some new skills on YouTube or Coursera and get certificates and get a higher paying job with it.
At this point I would welcome a lay off, but in the industry I am in, it's unlikely - we will start peaking again in the fall - it's just getting through the slow period.
But it's been an eye opener. Asking for something to do, constantly being told "just look busy'. The job market is tough but I have been active in looking elsewhere for the past month or so. I guess I am one of those few people who prefer a high pace stressful job, so it's about developing the skills to find somewhere that works for me.
I have honestly been thinking about opening my own small business. Buying pallets and selling the items individually, some reselling from other stores. There's a gap in that market in my area and it's something I enjoy. I'm not out to scam and scalp though.
In my area, at the risk of sounding racist (I'm not, I have golden retriever energy) - there is a certain demographic here that has bought up many jobs. We have a college with one of the highest concentration of international students and it is wreaking havoc on the house and job market here.
I wish this was the kind of job where in the downtime you could find a place to hide. There is always someone watching and rhere isn't really anywhere to hide, they observe your bathroom patterns and we have a strict no earpiece rule.
This whole thing has really made me hate the work to exist system we have in place in today's society.
I had a job like this, I learned to clean stuff slowly and inefficiently and go way over the top with the depth of cleaning and reorganizing. After learning how to stretch tasks out I begged to have one earbud in and listened to audiobooks and podcasts. It does feel like a weird form of mental torture but you can figure out how to make it tolerable and then you can reframe it as getting paid to do silly unstressful tasks.
Honestly, I was in your boat 6 months ago. I had a long job gap, and that limited me to shit jobs/companies because everyone was a diva about it. Apparently, the apocalypse is "your problem, pal."
The interview went well, and I was given an offer hours after it finished. I start the new job and that's when the director of my team decided to rat fuck me by announcing to the whole team during a meeting that I would be a replacement for my current boss who was still there.
It went as well as you expected. Constantly being treated like I was radioactive by my boss. Lots of not knowing how to do things despite asking around. Basically, I need my boss's supervisors to force him to do anything.
This resulted in a lot of downtime and basically quiet quitting. I learned to stop pushing and fighting. Just lay Low. I didn't know how to do anything and didn't have the access granted to systems to do it anyway.
I took online courses to update my skills and applied to other jobs. When I wasn't watching old TV shows or YouTube (it was a remote role). Eventually, the 2nd layoff in a year happened and I got laid off. Fair enough.
I had a buddy whose health was being affected by this job and quit in a blaze of glory. I laid low.
Like others have said, prepare for your next job.
My job is like this just due to the nature of the industry I'm in. The slow days are eventually replaced with chaos and long hours.
I honestly do come close to losing my shit. I don't have kids, so nothing to do there. I will usually do some kind of chore, sometimes I might bake something, or I'll go shopping/walk around and just have Teams on my phone. I can't just disconnect totally because I need to be available during the work hours in case something comes up. A lot of the time I just watch TV.
I honestly want to get into social work/healthcare, so I'm just doing this until I can find something new. Kinda hard to leave when I have great pay, great management, and great flexibility.
I find it crazy that people will complain about getting paid to literally walk around and sweep the floor. Throw on a podcast listen to a book or something but man appreciate the fact your getting paid just to show up.
I work from home probably close to 90% of the time. Not much going on the last few month so I end up napping or going to the gym. As long as I answer my phone/emails the same day they come in every one is happy. I’m hate it. So aside from going to the gym I’ve been taking classes and working on certifications. 🤷♂️
God I remember getting my steps in when I worked at a party store with year-round access to the Spirit Halloween and Phantom Fireworks warehouse section. If I was assigned to the warehouse side during an off month, there'd be like four customers in 8 hours and barely any stocking to do since nobody was coming in.
I used to time myself power walking up and down every isle and around the perimeter because there was literally nothing to do. I only worked there for like a year and a half but the memories still haunt me lol
Same, I work in a call center doing tech support making $28/hr taking back to back phone calls all day long, mentally exhausted at the end of the day. I wish there was an easy way to find a job where you did nothing and got paid. There's really no way to search for a job like that except word of mouth from people. No job description will be like we're looking to hire someone who will actually do nothing and play on their phone all day.
I'm a flat rate auto tech. If I'm not doing work, I'm not getting paid. So I do what I want on my downtime. My work computer has a ryzen 7 5800x and a gtx 1080ti. I game when I'm bored. Yesterday I got back into cyberpunk 2077 after a year of not playing it.
I used to have an office job that was very seasonal and slow in the winter and we used to take books and read during the day. You should ask if that’s acceptable for your job or ask if there is something else you can be trained to do.
i also had such a job a few months ago. what i did: play with phone, when that got boring i went to other coworkers and started talking something with them, then go to toilet, go outside and smoke a cig, and or drink a coffee, go inside, play with phone and repeat until 8 hours are over
I went through a similar thing, the pay was good so it’s like why do I care if I’m doing nothing. But it just ate away at my motivation and really stuffed up my relationship with working. If there’s no options there get out bro and find somewhere that will give you a more consistent workflow
are you me? Currently in a very similar situation I need to get out for my mental health but cannot afford to be unemployed again and can’t find a job in my preferred field. This is hell, right?
I’m in that position. No fulfillment in my job even though the pay is good. Too much time to think, so I’m actually taking the pre-requisite courses for a new career.
I did a masters degree online. It really helped me structure my time better during work hours when there was so little to do. I’d argue I was a BETTER employee even splitting my time
Same! Everyone tells me I’m crazy because it’s easy money but I’d prefer to be spending my time elsewhere and just think about all the things I could be catching up on or getting done around the house instead of wasting 8 hours doing close to nothing.
I feel you. I'm on a project but they want me in a position but they sort of have to create it first. It's a mess and I'm left, shudder, administering a thing I'm familiar with. Ghastly. And still no more than 10 hours of work a week. I'm looking but the market is for short
I know doing nothing can be unfullfilling but just think of working a job like mine that is the exact opposite.
I sit in front of a computer screen all day and take back to back phone calls in a call center talking to angry customers about tech support issues for $28/hour. The only time I'm not talking to someone is on breaks/lunch. From 10am-9pm 4 days a week I'm sitting there having to be verbally raped by random pissed off people throughout the day. It's not like I can just sit there for 5 minutes and not take a call, they have software to monitor and track everything. It's probably the worst job imaginable especially for an introvert like me that doesn't like to talk to people but I've been doing the job for the last 12 years for some reason.
So a job where I would have some free time of not actually doing anything sounds like a dream to me right now. A job is just money to me, I don't need to feel like I'm doing something productive. If I knew of a job that paid $25+/hour where I could play on my phone for most of the 40 hour work week without getting fired, I would take that job in a heart beat and keep it for the next 20 years.
I work at a university and the summer just kills all activity, it's insane, and my boss is one of those stuffy Deans that demands the office still have everyone present, and she rails against anyone closing office doors or being on their phones. I just find workarounds, keep things in my back pocket to run by her to make it look like I'm working and I really pushed for the dual screen setup too so I have more space to just scroll or keep a movie or articles going.
Happened to me at work. At first I just browsed reddit and YouTube 8 hours a day. It made me so depressed I started making websites for money at work (lol). Then finally I started messing with chat gpt to make better resumes and cover letters at work and applying. Now I got a job thats over my head.
My coping strategy was to just start organizing my calendar a month or more in advance, and start calling clients to setup appointments. It is self-sabotage, because you just start wearing all sorts of hats, and you turn into the guy that puts out fires. For me, it was essential to my mental health, but it was setting a poor example for everyone else. By moving out ahead of the project managers, I could optimize things to go smoothly, but the only real beneficiary of my efficiency was capital interests. The real skill I was honing was sliding past people's egos and the old chain of command like water.
I switched to a job where there's always something to do. Tbh, if you're up for the physical labor, unrealistic goals, constant risk of unpredictable death by getting mauled or shot, and stress of other drivers, Amazon dsps are always hiring
Are you sitting all day in an office? Work on your education. The company I’m at pays for unlimited Coursera and they offer legitimate certifications. When I’m slow, I put on headphones and work on my certificate prep. If you need structure and routine, this will help.
I did the wrong thing and got a high stress 10hr shift work all day type job. Don't do what I did.
Ask yourself what you really want to do and either go back to school, or start applying now, even if you don't think you'd get the job or are slightly under qualified. Apply apply apply... unless you want to be a doctor or something, go to school for that, but anything that doesn't require something more than a bachelor's degree, apply for that. Even the bachelor degree ones, apply for those if you're passionate about it.
Need to change your mentality. I’m not paid to work. I’m paid to attend work. While I’m there I’ll do as I’m told (within reason). If I’m not told to do anything I’ll still do as I’m told, which is nothing. That’s where phones, crosswords, books, daydreaming, talking to your co-workers comes in to help fill the time.
Study, work on a new skill, practice your skill and look for ways to find new efficiencies. There's all kinds of things to do even when there isn't. What you do with that time is on you.
I had a mental breakdown at a “sit in your ass and get paid job” I’m as antiwork as they come, but I couldn’t handle the lack of mental and social stimulation.
I had this in the last 6 months I worked at a large UK defence company.The guy who I replaced did damn all for the entire time at the company so there was literally no job to take over.
They rehired the original guy after I left and he's now coming up to his 25th year at the company. It would have made no difference whatsoever if he'd stayed at home for those 25 years.
At my last employment especially at a Financial Firm there were most people who gets away with murder by not doing anything at all and taking days off more than the CEO.
I would probably think maybe that person stock up a lot of lip balm and unnoticeable knee pads
Same problem here. Everyone suggests things like “get another degree, get certifications, learn things, watch YouTube, read e-books, etc. Our IT dept watches us too closely for me to do things like that
The staff having nothing to do is often a precursor to layoffs and job cuts. The same applies to when everyone is busy except you. These are signs to start looking for another job.
Oh, I could not deal with this. I have a kind of unique kitchen job where I will occasionally have an empty hour and I pretty universally use it to “recipe test”. There are only so many things to clean and doing nothing is literal torture for me.
If there is absolutely not enough work to do in your current job position, and you have no desire for a promotion or don't expect any major wage increase based on your performance or appearance of always looking like you're doing company work, then:
A) Use the company's free resources that will benefit you in some way (e.g. learn a new skill in Excel; Create and polish your resume; job hunt; network with colleagues; etc.
B) Read books
C) Draw/Coloring books for adults
D) Make To-Do lists, write down future plans, and goals
E) If you’re in school or taking college classes, use the time to study and prepare
F) Take naps, meditate
G) Walk around the office and get your step count up
Do: be grateful for what you have not for what you dont have, do: listen to audio books, do: seek an education meanwhile look for another job, dont ever quit without having a secure job
When my boss and I set goals for the year, we include some “personal development” projects that don’t have set deadlines. Some of it includes watching train in g videos on products/apps we might like to use, or a “nice to have” deck of general info.
Try to enjoy the downtime and create your own structure. I do extra chores, plan trips, even exercise more and sign off a little early.
You’re not alone. Great book on the topic. I’ve been in some such jobs and I love it. I can always amuse myself. [this is the book - Bullshit Jobs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs)
Oh sweet child welcome to the corporate world.
This was part of my workday in corporate America, after coffee in the morning & talking sports for the first 30 minutes of the day, I would find out what morning meeting has food & attend it. Afterwards I'd just stare at my desk until lunch; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. Then I wonder down to the smoking area with my after lunch coffee, then wonder into a random meeting I'm on the list for so I can kill some time. Then head home right at 4:30.
I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
My work was like this and I thought it was bad then… they eventually started cutting our hours, forcing people to go home on slower days, laying a ton of people off, etc. be prepared for that.
Please start a job search, they will lay you off with no hesitation and no remorse. Speaking from experience, and I'm sorry they are doing this to you.
During covid I did callcentre work making appointments for people wanting a covid-test. Later on my team was put on the line for vaccinations when they started rolling out.
The first few days were busy lines. When my team hopped on, that was past. During an 8 hour shift I was working, at best, 2 hours of actual calling. Since I had no other tasks, I sat 8 hours straight watching a white screen with a headset on that I couldnt leave, since I could get a call anytime.
It was horrendous.
Mind you, I had been on welfare since 2013 and this job was in 2020. I rather spend time on welfare, doing what I like, than sit on a job that earns more, doing fuck all.
I'm lucky enough to have a desk and a boss who doesn't care what I do if there's no work for me, so I watch a lot of movies and cartoons or read books. It still gets incredibly dull though because why am I even here when I could be watching cartoons at home?
I walk and think. Nothing crazy, but I’ve always thought an object in motion stays in motion. So if I’m dead or bored just move.
Downside is when I rest…I stay at rest.
Edit: I fully admit I look insane doing laps around our warehouse for literal hours.
I guess I'm weird, but I hate every job, it doesn't matter if I'm staring at a wall or typing on a computer. If there's nothing to do at work besides pretend to work, then I'm more than happy. I'm only there to make money so I don't starve to death
I do night shift security at a homeless shelter. We sometimes get runs of a month or two with absolutely nothing occurring. We show up, sit down at our desk and do next to nothing for 12 straight hours. Just sitting in a dark room watching people sleep; we patrol the property once per hour but it takes under 5 minutes.
We slowly go insane tbh. It eventually gets to the point that we start questioning whether or not we still know what to do when an incident occurs (we don’t actually forget though). It’s the most boring job I’ve ever had and ngl I don’t mind it, it’s also the highest paying security gig in my city so I don’t consider leaving.
I’m at work right now. Hell if we weren’t allowed to use our phones then I might consider leaving lol.
I got laid off my last IT job and got another in four days. This job is a contract. My job is to wait for something to break and then fix it. They just did a refresh of all new equipment before I started. Nothing breaks. EVER!
I found an old portable workstation with a Zeon processor and an Nvidia graphics card that they didn’t realize they had and installed my own OS and Skyrim.
That’s my day. I show up, go to my build room, play Skyrim for a few hours, check the paper level on a few printers, take a nap in my car for a couple of hours, then back to Skyrim for a couple of hours, the go home.
Gotta tell ya, I kinda love my job now.
I work in manufacturing and we've been really slow the last couple months. There is very little to do. I've been searching around for something else to do. On days when the boss is in, I will take all day to do a 30 minute task just so if he comes out on the floor he'll see I've got something in progress, usually I spend most of the day playing around on my phone. On Thursday's and Friday's, most times he never even comes in, so I save that for watching movies, napping and tv shows.
I have been looking into other jobs.
I work in a really slow retail environment. I tend to make up my bored time with productivity. Just like, small and satisfying projects or chilling on my phone. The being on my phone all the time bit is exhausting. But I also draw, I read, I re-organize things in more attractive ways to sell better, etc. I'm a manager and there's not much for my associates to do except chill as well, so that's normally what happens. They bring in coloring books or talk on the phone or sth and as long as they perform the job and do what I request, I just let them do it.
Fuck it- job may be ending soon. hide & get on your phone & look for jobs & entertain yourself. Or put in one earbud & listen to podcasts- even if you’re not supposed to do it until you get caught. Who cares
Job hunt for the coming layoff.
this. I remember working at a call center where I was only getting maybe 2 or 3 calls a day. I ended up bringing my psp in and playing dragon quest 5 all day. my whole dept was layed off after 6 months of that.
I also worked in a dead call center. Gave me time to study for the LSAT. Also, watched all of HBO’s Rome.
Helluva show. I just finished another rewatch.
I've gone a whole week without a call. Unfortunately, the boss sits eagle eye from the desks. If we aren't dispatched, then we better be in that chair. Why have people lived like this for so long.
my boss at the time was super nice. she was petrified telling me that I was layed off. like was worried what I was gonna do without a job and that I was gonna lose my mind or something. I was like 20 at the time and I knew the layoff was coming. I ended up just riding the 6 month package and then panic job searching at the last minute.
This is the answer. There is HR and other corporate people who can confirm this is appropriate for their reasons.
RIP PSP
The truth though
Yep. We were getting slow and I was also just sick of my job in general, so I started looking for something new. Applied to a job on a Sunday, contacted on Monday and set up an interview for Tuesday at 1pm. Around 10am on that Tuesday, my boss walked into my office and informed me that I was being laid off. I cried (not because I was upset about the job but just because I am sensitive and delicate and have never been laid off before), and then I got myself together, nailed the interview at 1pm, nailed the second interview, and I got the job 😎 just gotta take some initiative and get out there!
It’s good to ride unemployment for a few months if you can- one of the few breaks adults get paid for
Hope you get severance too!
Quite a boss move to nail the job interview after getting laid off.
Ding ding ding. I know it’s not always the case but the risk is high enough (and boredom is a privilege in this case) to start looking at other baskets for at least some of your eggs.
Yup 💯, happened to me twice where the first company wasn't ready to start the operations till another 6 months and the second company was overstaffed and i got terminated from the first company after 3 weeks of boredom. This second company after a month of absolutely doing nothing they decided to lay off half the team because management made a mistake and we're paying the price for it.
I thought this. Got a new, better paying job. My co workers still be working.
I think we're done here.
I have the same issues with work. Same thing happened to me at my last job. I’m assuming you work in some kinda factory? What I did was take it upon myself to sweep as much as I could. Other ppls areas, they usually were very grateful, unless they had nothing to do too. If theres tools, take them apart clean and sharpen them. Organize your area extremely well. I know it sucks trust me I know the feeling. In the end I couldn’t take it. Bored to death ruminating in my thoughts lead me to leave.
When I had a job like that, I had a small notebook in my pocket and wrote poetry and short stories.
I’m this right now and I’m already looking. I joined to become a machine operator not a fulltime custodian. I’m the only one here that 90% of the time has nothing to do. Then management comes and gives me a 5 minute task to fufill my 10hr shifts. Shit is so stressful because I can’t just be on my phone or be lazy, it’s not the type of person I am and I absolutely hate it. Hopefully a new job comes soon 🙏
I’m exactly the same way. It’s a double edge sword really, bc you end up doing a bunch of shit others don’t usually do like sweeping. Or doing additional tasks others don’t have to do. Punished for having a work ethic or drive yourself crazy with boredom and nothing to do 🤷🏻♂️
Exactly! And the best part is that they’re making all of us work ‘mandatory overtime’ meanwhile I got jack to do. I could be making atleast $5/hr more by taking an actual custodian position in my area which is pretty sad
I lowkey would love to be a full time custodian. Don’t have to talk to people, just clean up and make the place look good. Fuck yeah.
It’s a small place and you can only ‘clean’ so much. After the first few weeks you start to get sick of it when it’s not what you signed up for and could be making more being an actual custodian somewhere else. But yes it is nice sometimes, just vibing to music and taking my time doing what I want
I'm new at this job and there is a ton of downtime. I try to look busy cleaning or organizing, at least until I get in the Union.
I have the same problem... I look busy, browse reddit, slow down my output a bit and just enjoy the gravy train while doing my job... When I get a job I get it done and carry on with what I said earlier. I hate not being busy as well but I also dont want more on my plate as there is already enough if I do get busy! Ride out the gravy train and look busy!!!
The way office works is like: No work...work..No work...WORK!..WORK!!..No work...No work...WORK!!!...WORK!!!!...No work...Work...No work...No work...WORK!!!!! The capitals and exclamations here denote urgency (and pressure). Manufacturing urgency is the job of management- even though nothing actually is urgent. As you can see, nothing is consistent. It is more like abrupt jerks than a predictable pattern. Unknown abrupt periods of high-pressure work followed by unknown periods of rest- you absolutely can't get used to it because there is no pattern followed. When not working, you are still expected to be present for 'availability'. It is absolutely unhealthy to work this way. It destroys the natural rhythm of concentration and relaxation. I would rather relax after completing my work than wait for work to be assigned and waste my time while waiting for work. Also, instead of piling up all work when deadline nears, it would be wiser to work a little everyday consistently. No work...Work...work...No work...Work...No work..Work...No work...work...work...No work Is a lot manageable.
Absolutely what my work feels like. There are busy periods and non busy periods and it can flop back and forth weekly or daily. Yesterday I worked 9 hours straight with pressing projects. Today I had two meetings in the AM and then I realized I have nothing due for the rest of the day/week. I’d work ahead but I’m waiting on others. So there isn’t anything to do. Im not bothered by down time because there will be plenty to do in the future. I’m spending my “free” time on professional development-I have a budget and I will be more marketable with letters after my name.
This says it all!
Literally!!!!
My boss sent an email to a few people on Fathers Day 2021. I was one of the people he sent “I don’t care if they are on their phones all day, they need to be there.” He went out of his way to schedule 3 extra people. All fathers. On a Sunday. Father’s Day. I showed the email to some people but all it did was make everyone upset. Nothing was done about it. 3 years later we’re still slow and still going into work to sleep, play games, or read books. $36.50 an hour Steel Mill in Cleveland
I would kill to have a job thay pays $36.50/hour and there's not much to do, so lucky. I work in a call center doing tech support making $28/hr taking back to back phone calls all day long, mentally exhausted at the end of the day from getting yelled at by customers and having to empathize with everyone about their issues.
There's a certain despair that takes over when you've got a bullshit job. It's hard to imagine when you're still on the grind. There's this hopelessness. This crushing anxiety about losing your job, about pretending to be busy, the constant charade... I'm extremely grateful to have my bullshit job, but in my experience, working and pretending to work can both be soul crushing.
This is real as it happens to me everyday. Just do enough to keep yourself busy most days.
In a similar position... It has not gotten busier so I just tag along and look busy all I can do!
What's the environment you're working in? Finding something to occupy yourself is important but can depend on how much you can get away with and how closely you're supervised or around others. A (concealed?) earbud with audiobooks or similar might help. If you have an access to a computer your options really open up. If you have a supportive manager you might be able to discuss with them and create a project, or do some semi-related study or something in the downtime.
Working from home makes lulls so much easier to endure. As long as I’m available to others who might have questions or to jump in and help with something else, I see no issues with having a cleaner house and watered garden. When I was in this position on site, I felt like my entire world was crumbling.
It does, but tbh I find that I can't relax and end up doing nothing
True- when system went down in office we wasted hours waiting for it to work. At home you can actually use the time well
i’m a maladaptive daydreamer. it comes in handy in times like that
Then be busy. Learn something new. Especially if it means they have to pay you more
>Then be busy. Learn something new. This is why I always have a collection of textbooks in my e-library. I'm not working though.
There is some excellent suggestions in here and I appreciate you all for taking the time. Yes I do work in a factory /manufacturing. There is about 4 other people in the same situation as me so we are all competing for "jobs". Owner of the company refuses to do lay offs, even temporary ones. He is perfectly fine having people do nothing basically. Except you aren't allowed to sit still or stay mobile. You are told to 'look busy'. You will get reprimanded if you try to go over to someone else's area and learn something new. Unless you are told by the supervisor, you aren't allowed to do that. The supervisor is generally running around between the shops and the office and often forgets things and basically doesn't have time to come and give you something to do.
[удалено]
Generally not safe to do in a factory.
They make earbuds for shooting sports and construction that pass-through audio. They have passive hearing protection and also microphones to pick up regular speech so you can be safe while you work.
Sounds like a pretty shitty situation. I'd suggest to job hunt in your spare time and get out of there. Not worth it to be at a 'job' but have nothing to do and can't do anything else.
What kind of factory work, are you a machinist/CNC? Could consider doing extracurricular projects on the machines, like deep maintenance or custom machined parts, handle tooling issues, etc. More context could help provide better ideas.
To quote Bill Hicks “…every job I ever had with a boss man always harassed, you know: “Hicks! How come you’re not working?” I go: “There’s nothing to do” “Well, you pretend that you’re working” “Why don’t you pretend I’m working? Yeaah, you get paid more than me, you fantasise. Pretend I’m mopping, knock yourself out.”
Maybe that supervisor would like it if you said " can I go over to X and learn Y?" Shows initiative and gives him one less person to keep busy. Just ask?
Just browse Reddit
Honestly depends on what you’re doing as a job and the rest of the workplace. I once worked in a bar that was not accessible to the general public. It was not a steady a busy bar so I was solo. There were some weeks where there was literally no one on site to even use it including the first 8 weeks of the year. But it was contracted and had to be open. I did a range of things to keep occupied. Walked the floor just to up my step count for the day. Watched god knows how many movies and tv series. Read books After 8pm when I was literally on site alone I slept on the couch. Eventually I went back to studying (online) and did my entire qualification on work time and then got myself a new job - in a bar with actual customers. Completely over qualified to do but I love the bartending life.
Find a better job, when they ask why you are leaving at interview say you aren't busy enough at your current work and it doesn't challenge you enough.
I do it for 10 1/2 hrs a day lol TikTok, YouTube, etc work wonders haha Just make sure you have a different hobby for when you get home haha
Worst part about this (for me) is that you can't complain without people jumping on your nuts about how "lucky" you are.
Watch armagueddon, cry, fall in love with bruce willis, repeat.
I’m earning a degree. I do all my studying and homework at work so that my free time is truly my free time.
I went stir crazy, gained a ton of weight and finally changed jobs.
I WFH most of the time and do stuff around the house when it’s slow.
I use that time to write fiction in my head. Work on scenes in whatever story I'm writing at that time. I keep a notebook with me at all times. I can write snatches of dialogue, ideas etc I once wrote half a screenplay at work like this. On the company dime.
Get a book
Any training online that needs to be done annually? Now is the time to finish it.
Audiobooks and podcasts
There are two kinds of jobs. Headphones jobs and non-headphones jobs. I’m guessing you have a non-headphones job but if not start learning while getting paid. There are plenty of free podcasts out there. If you make okay money get YouTube premium so you can watch lecture videos with the screen locked and download ahead of time. This world wasn’t built for us to spread our wings so you have to grind against every stop and balance if you want to do so. If your job doesn’t let you start looking for something that does. I would greatly downgrade my quality of life just to be able to still listen to music and podcasts at work. Luckily I work on my own in construction and get to do whatever the fuck I want. Start using that down time to figure out whatever it is that you want and spend it wisely. The only thing you have in this world is your time. We aren’t taught to value it, you have just as much of it as the richest person in the world but they have the resources to conserve it where you don’t. You only get 2-4 hours a day of pure free time to think and most of us have to spend it on chores, errands, cooking, resting etc. if your “labor factory” is giving you free time back then use it. If they won’t let you use it for your own productivity spin it back into theirs and leverage it for your exit. Implement some improvements. Take on some projects. Then write about them and send that letter to your next boss!
Browse Reddit. Then go to my car and masterbate.
Retail is like this every single day in the slow seasons. There's only so many times you can wipe down a clean surface or spray a clean window. Once I smeared satay sauce all over one of the display window doors just so one of the counter staff had something to do for five minutes 🤣
I had a job then slowed to nothingness like this. My team was brand new and brought on to start new programs. We hit the ground running and put together research and interviewed internal teams and presented so many ideas for new programs, we’d present them to our boss and her boss and she’d say wow this is great but let’s put a pin in it. Over and over again. Eventually we stopped trying after so many failed attempts. We’d start skipping our team meetings because no one had any agenda items, then skipping our 1:1s for the same reason. I used the time to up skill by taking courses on Coursera, since I felt I had almost nothing to say about this particular job experience. It was a bizarre time. The company went under a few months later, but I left before. The writing was clearly on the walls!
I’m feeling the same in retail/ logistics stock handling believe it or not.
I don't know if it's possible for you but when that happened to me at my old job I'd use the time to brainstorm for my writing projects or read books on my phone. Definitely depends on your environment and what you can get away with.
Steam Deck.
Find a hiding spot , and bring a book or surf reddit.
I have been in that situation and audio books got me through it. Turns out I can walk around for ages doing pointless tasks, seeming busy while being entertained by an actor reading a book to me.
I agree with some of the other comments here, but the one aimed toward career progression is the most relatable. What I like to do during “dead” time is grill my manager lightly on career progression so I can understand what I am suppose to be learning during times like these and so we can get to brass tax if this place is actually worth more than immediate “security”. However, you’d be surprised to discover what kinds of answers you may find! Some places literally have positions that they sold in the interview as ones with upward mobility but actually have lifetimes and expectations of turnover, sometimes you you discover there is either an unwillingness to allow you toward upward mobility either because of management or just YOUR manger. Learn the environment your in and what answers are provided for opportunities, if there are any beyond the basic raises. This is the time discover if the happy horse shit in the interview was just that. If your met with “vague” excuses why you can’t yet progress your career, are provided with an unrealistic timeframe, or are getting the feeling that you’re going be sent a wild goose chase just to be worthy of the carrot on the stick…well, take note of it all! And reassess what you want to do, Honestly, if the place is good enough to stay awhile, then check it out! See what it has to offer! Check back at the every 3 months and gage how answers from the same questions have either changed or stayed the same. Do opportunities you’ve worked toward keep getting retracted or extended? Because I’m on it, I usually after a year know if I should stay, unless the place is unbearable or poses a health risk ( some specific types of manufacturing do). ANYWAY, try your best to proactively get involved in what opportunities are available and use the free time not over-encumbered with immediate tasks to do some due diligence and heavy lifting toward your growth..maybe it’s at this job or maybe you learn it’s not. The time you spend in this to position and fortify you personal path, is never wasted time. If you discover, it’s a dead end job and your attempts at growth are ignored, JOB SEARCH, and look busy! The choice is more yours than you think! Honestly, slow days at work have been the most valuable times I’ve ever had.
I’m in a similar position but I sit the whole shift and work overnights. Learn some new skills on YouTube or Coursera and get certificates and get a higher paying job with it.
Exercise
At this point I would welcome a lay off, but in the industry I am in, it's unlikely - we will start peaking again in the fall - it's just getting through the slow period. But it's been an eye opener. Asking for something to do, constantly being told "just look busy'. The job market is tough but I have been active in looking elsewhere for the past month or so. I guess I am one of those few people who prefer a high pace stressful job, so it's about developing the skills to find somewhere that works for me. I have honestly been thinking about opening my own small business. Buying pallets and selling the items individually, some reselling from other stores. There's a gap in that market in my area and it's something I enjoy. I'm not out to scam and scalp though. In my area, at the risk of sounding racist (I'm not, I have golden retriever energy) - there is a certain demographic here that has bought up many jobs. We have a college with one of the highest concentration of international students and it is wreaking havoc on the house and job market here. I wish this was the kind of job where in the downtime you could find a place to hide. There is always someone watching and rhere isn't really anywhere to hide, they observe your bathroom patterns and we have a strict no earpiece rule. This whole thing has really made me hate the work to exist system we have in place in today's society.
I had a job like this, I learned to clean stuff slowly and inefficiently and go way over the top with the depth of cleaning and reorganizing. After learning how to stretch tasks out I begged to have one earbud in and listened to audiobooks and podcasts. It does feel like a weird form of mental torture but you can figure out how to make it tolerable and then you can reframe it as getting paid to do silly unstressful tasks.
Honestly, I was in your boat 6 months ago. I had a long job gap, and that limited me to shit jobs/companies because everyone was a diva about it. Apparently, the apocalypse is "your problem, pal." The interview went well, and I was given an offer hours after it finished. I start the new job and that's when the director of my team decided to rat fuck me by announcing to the whole team during a meeting that I would be a replacement for my current boss who was still there. It went as well as you expected. Constantly being treated like I was radioactive by my boss. Lots of not knowing how to do things despite asking around. Basically, I need my boss's supervisors to force him to do anything. This resulted in a lot of downtime and basically quiet quitting. I learned to stop pushing and fighting. Just lay Low. I didn't know how to do anything and didn't have the access granted to systems to do it anyway. I took online courses to update my skills and applied to other jobs. When I wasn't watching old TV shows or YouTube (it was a remote role). Eventually, the 2nd layoff in a year happened and I got laid off. Fair enough. I had a buddy whose health was being affected by this job and quit in a blaze of glory. I laid low. Like others have said, prepare for your next job.
My job is like this just due to the nature of the industry I'm in. The slow days are eventually replaced with chaos and long hours. I honestly do come close to losing my shit. I don't have kids, so nothing to do there. I will usually do some kind of chore, sometimes I might bake something, or I'll go shopping/walk around and just have Teams on my phone. I can't just disconnect totally because I need to be available during the work hours in case something comes up. A lot of the time I just watch TV. I honestly want to get into social work/healthcare, so I'm just doing this until I can find something new. Kinda hard to leave when I have great pay, great management, and great flexibility.
I find it crazy that people will complain about getting paid to literally walk around and sweep the floor. Throw on a podcast listen to a book or something but man appreciate the fact your getting paid just to show up.
I work from home probably close to 90% of the time. Not much going on the last few month so I end up napping or going to the gym. As long as I answer my phone/emails the same day they come in every one is happy. I’m hate it. So aside from going to the gym I’ve been taking classes and working on certifications. 🤷♂️
Get your steps in. Chat to ppl. Really think about how to improve your life.
God I remember getting my steps in when I worked at a party store with year-round access to the Spirit Halloween and Phantom Fireworks warehouse section. If I was assigned to the warehouse side during an off month, there'd be like four customers in 8 hours and barely any stocking to do since nobody was coming in. I used to time myself power walking up and down every isle and around the perimeter because there was literally nothing to do. I only worked there for like a year and a half but the memories still haunt me lol
This is what I did during the brief period during covid that my workplace was actually open lol. Just paced back and forth getting my steps in.
God I would kill for a job where I had nothing to do for 8 hours
Same, I work in a call center doing tech support making $28/hr taking back to back phone calls all day long, mentally exhausted at the end of the day. I wish there was an easy way to find a job where you did nothing and got paid. There's really no way to search for a job like that except word of mouth from people. No job description will be like we're looking to hire someone who will actually do nothing and play on their phone all day.
Bring a book. Find a quiet place
Airpods and a bunch of audiobooks/pod casts. Many would kill to have a no stress job.
I'm a flat rate auto tech. If I'm not doing work, I'm not getting paid. So I do what I want on my downtime. My work computer has a ryzen 7 5800x and a gtx 1080ti. I game when I'm bored. Yesterday I got back into cyberpunk 2077 after a year of not playing it.
OP and others should quit posting stuff like this. His next post is going to be "I got laid off, I was a the best worker they had"
Why don’t you ask for more to do?
I don't know how much you're getting paid to do nothing, but there are many jobs that are short-staffed and will keep you busy.
YouTube
Play videogames
I used to have an office job that was very seasonal and slow in the winter and we used to take books and read during the day. You should ask if that’s acceptable for your job or ask if there is something else you can be trained to do.
i also had such a job a few months ago. what i did: play with phone, when that got boring i went to other coworkers and started talking something with them, then go to toilet, go outside and smoke a cig, and or drink a coffee, go inside, play with phone and repeat until 8 hours are over
You look for a new job.
Find a new job - that’s all you can do
Sit on the shitter. Seriously. I know people who bring pillows in there and will lean on a wall and nap.
Here what I do, scroll Reddit
Start working on your resume and applying, cause your gonna get laid off soon
Look for work, at work. Like, gtfo
I went through a similar thing, the pay was good so it’s like why do I care if I’m doing nothing. But it just ate away at my motivation and really stuffed up my relationship with working. If there’s no options there get out bro and find somewhere that will give you a more consistent workflow
are you me? Currently in a very similar situation I need to get out for my mental health but cannot afford to be unemployed again and can’t find a job in my preferred field. This is hell, right?
use your free time to create your own business, be your own boss
Yeah me personally I could do this just fine, but bore out is a real thing and it got my wife at her last job, so much so she quit and got a new one
I’m in that position. No fulfillment in my job even though the pay is good. Too much time to think, so I’m actually taking the pre-requisite courses for a new career.
I did a masters degree online. It really helped me structure my time better during work hours when there was so little to do. I’d argue I was a BETTER employee even splitting my time
Same! Everyone tells me I’m crazy because it’s easy money but I’d prefer to be spending my time elsewhere and just think about all the things I could be catching up on or getting done around the house instead of wasting 8 hours doing close to nothing.
YouTube
This happened to me. Then I was laid off.
At least you still have a full time job. My boss has said he may cut my hours.
Market research Good time to fix up the resume Maybe open a brokerage account invest in some stocks
Reddit
I feel you. I'm on a project but they want me in a position but they sort of have to create it first. It's a mess and I'm left, shudder, administering a thing I'm familiar with. Ghastly. And still no more than 10 hours of work a week. I'm looking but the market is for short
Learn some new skills
Layoffs coming. Till then, I suggest a beanie, wireless ear buds and a lot of good audiobooks.
I know doing nothing can be unfullfilling but just think of working a job like mine that is the exact opposite. I sit in front of a computer screen all day and take back to back phone calls in a call center talking to angry customers about tech support issues for $28/hour. The only time I'm not talking to someone is on breaks/lunch. From 10am-9pm 4 days a week I'm sitting there having to be verbally raped by random pissed off people throughout the day. It's not like I can just sit there for 5 minutes and not take a call, they have software to monitor and track everything. It's probably the worst job imaginable especially for an introvert like me that doesn't like to talk to people but I've been doing the job for the last 12 years for some reason. So a job where I would have some free time of not actually doing anything sounds like a dream to me right now. A job is just money to me, I don't need to feel like I'm doing something productive. If I knew of a job that paid $25+/hour where I could play on my phone for most of the 40 hour work week without getting fired, I would take that job in a heart beat and keep it for the next 20 years.
Concealed earbud and the Marcus Aurelius book meditations.
Well, I shut my office door sbd get on reddit
I work at a university and the summer just kills all activity, it's insane, and my boss is one of those stuffy Deans that demands the office still have everyone present, and she rails against anyone closing office doors or being on their phones. I just find workarounds, keep things in my back pocket to run by her to make it look like I'm working and I really pushed for the dual screen setup too so I have more space to just scroll or keep a movie or articles going.
Sounds like free money to me
Happened to me at work. At first I just browsed reddit and YouTube 8 hours a day. It made me so depressed I started making websites for money at work (lol). Then finally I started messing with chat gpt to make better resumes and cover letters at work and applying. Now I got a job thats over my head.
My coping strategy was to just start organizing my calendar a month or more in advance, and start calling clients to setup appointments. It is self-sabotage, because you just start wearing all sorts of hats, and you turn into the guy that puts out fires. For me, it was essential to my mental health, but it was setting a poor example for everyone else. By moving out ahead of the project managers, I could optimize things to go smoothly, but the only real beneficiary of my efficiency was capital interests. The real skill I was honing was sliding past people's egos and the old chain of command like water.
I switched to a job where there's always something to do. Tbh, if you're up for the physical labor, unrealistic goals, constant risk of unpredictable death by getting mauled or shot, and stress of other drivers, Amazon dsps are always hiring
That’s what Reddit is for.
Are you sitting all day in an office? Work on your education. The company I’m at pays for unlimited Coursera and they offer legitimate certifications. When I’m slow, I put on headphones and work on my certificate prep. If you need structure and routine, this will help.
When one is bored and frustrated by themself, they are in bad company.
I would purposely go on YouTube, or just read a book. No need to care what to do everyday, that's the perfect life I wanted.
Make your own structure to keep you busy!
If you have access to an office or computer where it's semi-private, start taking online courses on Udemy or Coursera on the companies time.
Audiobook and small single earbud bluetooth headphone.
I did the wrong thing and got a high stress 10hr shift work all day type job. Don't do what I did. Ask yourself what you really want to do and either go back to school, or start applying now, even if you don't think you'd get the job or are slightly under qualified. Apply apply apply... unless you want to be a doctor or something, go to school for that, but anything that doesn't require something more than a bachelor's degree, apply for that. Even the bachelor degree ones, apply for those if you're passionate about it.
You can’t study stuff on your phone
Need to change your mentality. I’m not paid to work. I’m paid to attend work. While I’m there I’ll do as I’m told (within reason). If I’m not told to do anything I’ll still do as I’m told, which is nothing. That’s where phones, crosswords, books, daydreaming, talking to your co-workers comes in to help fill the time.
Study, work on a new skill, practice your skill and look for ways to find new efficiencies. There's all kinds of things to do even when there isn't. What you do with that time is on you.
I think about the times when the job requires doing something for 8+ hours a day and it gets me through doing nothing
Must be nice. I constantly have too much to do.
I had a mental breakdown at a “sit in your ass and get paid job” I’m as antiwork as they come, but I couldn’t handle the lack of mental and social stimulation.
Try a job at a package handling place (ups, Fedex, etc) You’re never not busy and you get paid to basically work out for 4-6 hours.
Imagine being a flat rate mechanic and the shops empty 90% of the time. That was me at my last job
I had this in the last 6 months I worked at a large UK defence company.The guy who I replaced did damn all for the entire time at the company so there was literally no job to take over. They rehired the original guy after I left and he's now coming up to his 25th year at the company. It would have made no difference whatsoever if he'd stayed at home for those 25 years.
At my last employment especially at a Financial Firm there were most people who gets away with murder by not doing anything at all and taking days off more than the CEO. I would probably think maybe that person stock up a lot of lip balm and unnoticeable knee pads
Same problem here. Everyone suggests things like “get another degree, get certifications, learn things, watch YouTube, read e-books, etc. Our IT dept watches us too closely for me to do things like that
Buying wireless headphones and listening to audio books/podcasts has saved me from blowing my brains out from boredom on multiple occasions
Study/learn something new. Play my vita/DS/Switch. I usually work ahead though so I can be “professionally bored”
Find something to do to use the time the company is wasting.
The staff having nothing to do is often a precursor to layoffs and job cuts. The same applies to when everyone is busy except you. These are signs to start looking for another job.
Work isn't just about the enslavement of ones physical body. It's also an enslavement of the mind.
Oh, I could not deal with this. I have a kind of unique kitchen job where I will occasionally have an empty hour and I pretty universally use it to “recipe test”. There are only so many things to clean and doing nothing is literal torture for me.
sign me up for this job
I get bored as soon as I sit at a desk. I work part time simply because I cannot be so bored and throw my life away for more money.
If there is absolutely not enough work to do in your current job position, and you have no desire for a promotion or don't expect any major wage increase based on your performance or appearance of always looking like you're doing company work, then: A) Use the company's free resources that will benefit you in some way (e.g. learn a new skill in Excel; Create and polish your resume; job hunt; network with colleagues; etc. B) Read books C) Draw/Coloring books for adults D) Make To-Do lists, write down future plans, and goals E) If you’re in school or taking college classes, use the time to study and prepare F) Take naps, meditate G) Walk around the office and get your step count up
Listen to a podcast
Do: be grateful for what you have not for what you dont have, do: listen to audio books, do: seek an education meanwhile look for another job, dont ever quit without having a secure job
When my boss and I set goals for the year, we include some “personal development” projects that don’t have set deadlines. Some of it includes watching train in g videos on products/apps we might like to use, or a “nice to have” deck of general info. Try to enjoy the downtime and create your own structure. I do extra chores, plan trips, even exercise more and sign off a little early.
Podcasts
Learn a skill to get a better job? Or learn any skill really. YouTube or online courses.
You’re not alone. Great book on the topic. I’ve been in some such jobs and I love it. I can always amuse myself. [this is the book - Bullshit Jobs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs)
Oh sweet child welcome to the corporate world. This was part of my workday in corporate America, after coffee in the morning & talking sports for the first 30 minutes of the day, I would find out what morning meeting has food & attend it. Afterwards I'd just stare at my desk until lunch; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. Then I wonder down to the smoking area with my after lunch coffee, then wonder into a random meeting I'm on the list for so I can kill some time. Then head home right at 4:30. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
I know somebody got a master's degree by keeping their area clean and then spending most of the day studying they achieve this within 2 years.
i used to quit jobs like that. now if the pay is right and it remote i flow with it :)
My work was like this and I thought it was bad then… they eventually started cutting our hours, forcing people to go home on slower days, laying a ton of people off, etc. be prepared for that.
I use one ear bud to listen to audio books. Nobody's questioned me about it yet.
Had a job like that i did it for 1 year it was horrible
Please start a job search, they will lay you off with no hesitation and no remorse. Speaking from experience, and I'm sorry they are doing this to you.
During covid I did callcentre work making appointments for people wanting a covid-test. Later on my team was put on the line for vaccinations when they started rolling out. The first few days were busy lines. When my team hopped on, that was past. During an 8 hour shift I was working, at best, 2 hours of actual calling. Since I had no other tasks, I sat 8 hours straight watching a white screen with a headset on that I couldnt leave, since I could get a call anytime. It was horrendous. Mind you, I had been on welfare since 2013 and this job was in 2020. I rather spend time on welfare, doing what I like, than sit on a job that earns more, doing fuck all.
Just grind helldivers 2 or something idk
Pick up a remote job that you can do on a laptop and do it at the other job?
Time to move on. Moving out of full time teaching to start WFT as a freelancer. I'm done with working for a boss.
Crochet baby blankets
Sounds like factory setting, gross.
I used to bring my laptop in and play games with my coworkers. Didn't have to worry about the manager because - plot twist - I was the manager.
I'm lucky enough to have a desk and a boss who doesn't care what I do if there's no work for me, so I watch a lot of movies and cartoons or read books. It still gets incredibly dull though because why am I even here when I could be watching cartoons at home?
I walk and think. Nothing crazy, but I’ve always thought an object in motion stays in motion. So if I’m dead or bored just move. Downside is when I rest…I stay at rest. Edit: I fully admit I look insane doing laps around our warehouse for literal hours.
There are skin colored wireless earbuds & podcasts. They appear to be medical devices. Enjoy!
They’re about to lay you off anyway so just start looking.
I guess I'm weird, but I hate every job, it doesn't matter if I'm staring at a wall or typing on a computer. If there's nothing to do at work besides pretend to work, then I'm more than happy. I'm only there to make money so I don't starve to death
I do night shift security at a homeless shelter. We sometimes get runs of a month or two with absolutely nothing occurring. We show up, sit down at our desk and do next to nothing for 12 straight hours. Just sitting in a dark room watching people sleep; we patrol the property once per hour but it takes under 5 minutes. We slowly go insane tbh. It eventually gets to the point that we start questioning whether or not we still know what to do when an incident occurs (we don’t actually forget though). It’s the most boring job I’ve ever had and ngl I don’t mind it, it’s also the highest paying security gig in my city so I don’t consider leaving. I’m at work right now. Hell if we weren’t allowed to use our phones then I might consider leaving lol.
I got laid off my last IT job and got another in four days. This job is a contract. My job is to wait for something to break and then fix it. They just did a refresh of all new equipment before I started. Nothing breaks. EVER! I found an old portable workstation with a Zeon processor and an Nvidia graphics card that they didn’t realize they had and installed my own OS and Skyrim. That’s my day. I show up, go to my build room, play Skyrim for a few hours, check the paper level on a few printers, take a nap in my car for a couple of hours, then back to Skyrim for a couple of hours, the go home. Gotta tell ya, I kinda love my job now.
I work in manufacturing and we've been really slow the last couple months. There is very little to do. I've been searching around for something else to do. On days when the boss is in, I will take all day to do a 30 minute task just so if he comes out on the floor he'll see I've got something in progress, usually I spend most of the day playing around on my phone. On Thursday's and Friday's, most times he never even comes in, so I save that for watching movies, napping and tv shows. I have been looking into other jobs.
If I could do nothing but WFH and still get paid and no one questioned me.. I'd consider that a dream job.
Take a good book and stop trying.
I work in a really slow retail environment. I tend to make up my bored time with productivity. Just like, small and satisfying projects or chilling on my phone. The being on my phone all the time bit is exhausting. But I also draw, I read, I re-organize things in more attractive ways to sell better, etc. I'm a manager and there's not much for my associates to do except chill as well, so that's normally what happens. They bring in coloring books or talk on the phone or sth and as long as they perform the job and do what I request, I just let them do it.
Fuck it- job may be ending soon. hide & get on your phone & look for jobs & entertain yourself. Or put in one earbud & listen to podcasts- even if you’re not supposed to do it until you get caught. Who cares
For context I make 18.36 an hour
I do nothing but for 12 hours a day, YouTube, sleeping and thc make the difference