Resourcefulness

Youtube And Facebook Are A Waste of Time

By Joe Marchelewski ⋅ May 6, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Subscribe By Email ⋅ Post a comment

All offices have downtime. Whether you’re in marketing, administration, office management, human resources or whatever, there’s always about one hour each day (not counting lunch) when you’re seriously hurting for something to do. It’s the nature of the beast, as corporations and companies get larger, jobs become more segmented and specialized which leads to downtime because it’s not always necessary to have a proofreader, an office clerk, etc. This downtime has helped the success of such sites as Youtube, Facebook, MySpace and other Internet sites that exist almost solely for the purpose of wasting time as you wait for 6:00 pm to role around.

While it seems like there just isn’t anything to do during your downtime, you’re probably missing an opportunity to either get work done, get personal stuff accomplished or brave a new horizon. Here are some tips on how to use your downtime at work:

1. Ask for more responsibilities at work. This should be where you start. Instead of becoming the best Bejeweled player on planet earth, try asking your boss for increased responsibility, even if it’s in a different department. It’ll show initiative and even if there’s nothing more for you to do, a good company will reward your attitude either at bonus time or in not selecting you to be downsized should that time come.

2. Handle personal business that isn’t painting your nails. If you have your own office, or a cubicle that you can hide in, pay your bills online, balance your checkbook and manage all the minor details that you usually handle in the evenings or on the weekend. It’ll save you personal time at home, and paper work can simply look like paperwork to passers-by (thus thwarting any nosey managers).

3. Start your own blog. You’d be surprised at: a. how easy it is to start one, even if you’re clueless as to the whole “Internet Thing”; and b. how much of a fan-base you might start. Blogging can be a fun hobby that you look forward to and it could make your regular work more fun, because it’ll give you topics to blog about. If you really want help and want to do it professionally, check out the designer of this blog and other successful blogs: Digimander

Overall, if you’re going to develop as a person, you need to make the most of the moments in your life. Being just another bored office worker isn’t going to help you or anyone else. Being an out of the box thinker could help you develop your career and your life at the same time.