t’s probably one of these days at work when you don’t have much to do. You’re probably very fast at finishing all your tasks, leaving you with free time at work. It feels really boring not knowing what to do, but you can’t go home because you have a 9 to 5 job.
Either way, you still have a couple of hours to spend in your office, and you don’t know how to kill time.
In this article, we’ll talk about the best ten ways to kill time at work on a slow day. Let’s start!
1. Read about Work-related Topics
Killing time can sometimes put you in trouble with your boss or supervisor. He might come up to you and ask you, “why aren’t you working?”. You’ll answer him, “I have nothing to do.” To which he will reply, “well, at least pretend like you’re working.” One way to avoid this whole situation is by filling your free time with reading about the job. This is one of the most productive ways to kill time, especially if you’re the type of person who likes to read stuff.
2. Organize your Inbox
Personally, I don’t have a very organized inbox, but I know many people who take good care of their inboxes. Some people always have that nagging voice in their head that tells them something is not organized. If you’re that type of person and having a chaotic inbox is bothering you, take the opportunity to organize it and kill time at work.
3. Play an Online Game
By the way, I’m not talking about downloading Call of Duty online and shooting people. There are plenty of office-friendly games out there that are more suitable for killing time at work. I personally enjoy UNO, checkers, and chess to kill time. Just make sure to pick an appropriate online game for an office setting to avoid provoking your boss and colleagues. Playing checkers and chess can almost seem like doing work, which is a good strategy if you have to apply some deceptive tactics.
4. Help a Struggling Coworker
So, you’re the selfless type of person who hates to see others struggle while you’re enjoying free time. In that case, you might want to lend a hand to a coworker who doesn’t have the same privilege as you.
If you’re close with the coworker next to you and it seems like she/he needs a hand, you should probably be a good person and offer some help. Cooperation in the workplace is a better strategy than competition unless your line of work is very competitive. But still, your objective is to kill time, so it’s okay to do something productive for another person.
5. Organize your Desk
Just like your inbox, if you’re not the type who keeps everything clean all the time, chances are your desk becomes chaotic at a certain point. In that case, you should take the opportunity to clean it when you have time to spare. You can kill a couple of hours organizing your desk and putting everything in its right place.
6. Develop a New Skill
I don’t know about you, but I really like to learn new skills, especially when it comes to art and creativity. So, I often watch all types of content on YouTube and online courses that teaches me something new. Just the other day, I learned how to superimpose pentatonic scale on major seventh chords and play jazz solos just by watching a simple video on YouTube while taking a break from work. I know this sounds like nonsense because you’re unfamiliar with music theory. But let me tell you this, I learned music theory just to kill time.
7. Doodle on a Piece of Paper
I’m not joking! Doodling is actually very good for you. Research shows that doodling is good for you because it improves your focus, memory, and other cognitive functions. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen, which are right in front of you, to start doodling and kill 30 minutes like it’s nothing.
Final Words
So, there you have it. Since you struggle with killing time when there’s no work but you still have to stay at work, these are 7 of the best ways to kill time. Obviously, this list can be as long as I want it, but that’s not necessary. I didn’t mention browsing your social media feed because that kills time very quickly, which scares me a lot; I actually decided to delete all of my social media to kill less time.
