It’s the end of the year, so let’s take some time out to have some fun before we launch into 2020. Not all day every day of work is highly productive, but most people have to look like it is. So, how can you look busy without being busy? We’ve got some fun suggestions for making you look like a star worker while you’re busy daydreaming, catching up with friends or just having a nap at your desk.
Learn How to Toggle
Alt, TAB. Shifting through screens is actually something you should know how to do by this time in our digitally dominated workplace. If you don’t, you should learn because it saves time; but it can also save your job. If you are scrolling through Facebook when you should be finishing a report, and if you have that sneaky coworker who looks at your screen, togging to the right screen is super fast and doesn’t look like you’ve lifted your hands from the keyboard to make that click: done.
Make a Call
So the office is dead quiet, but if you let your manager know you’ll be assigned the accounting task that no one wants to complete. Buy yourself some time by ringing yourself. Yep, dial your desk from your mobile and take a very important call that requires you to dig deep into a file, preferably one that has non-actual issues.
A Cup of Tea?
Everyone loves the person who offers to make a cup of tea. Make this your job! Jump up on at least a 30-minute basis to offer to make tea for everyone. Of course, you’ll also need to help by clearing used cups and rinsing them in the dishwasher, so in all, you’ll be at your desk for about 10-minutes in every 40-minute period. What a way to spend the day.
Sunny Inside
Wear your sunglasses while working. Let your coworkers know that you are light-sensitive and that wearing your sunglasses will help you avoid developing a headache. It also helps when you want to fall into a microsleep. If you head starts to nod as you doze at your desk you can claim that you are in fact getting a bit of a headache, but the trooper you are, you’ll be just fine to keep on working.
Move into the Boardroom
Many office spaces have empty boardrooms. Maybe you can move into the vacant space for the afternoon so that you can focus on your work. Obviously you will be enjoying a relaxing afternoon catching up on personal emails and watching adorable puppy videos on YouTube. There is no need to tell everyone that you finished that project at 11am.
Bring in a Puppy
Take your lovable mutt into the office. It will need to be set up in a cosy spot by your desk after spending the first 3 hours meeting all your coworkers. Then, by the time you open your computer for work, poochy will need a toilet break. Taking your bestie into work means that you’ll get only about ½ your normal amount of work done, but no one will notice because you are the office hero for bringing joy in the form of puppy love.
Wear a Jumpsuit to Work
Stylish, trending and awkward. The jumpsuit creates so many time sucks it’s a wonder that they are issued to astronauts at all. No pockets means you are always forgetting a pen or your phone, so many trips around the office on your way to meetings. And while you are looking for said pen, you simply must stop and tell Judy where you found such a fabulous outfit and why you love it so much. Then, bathroom breaks, you are going to take an extra 5 minutes to get out of and into that gear. It’s the perfect way to waste a day without criticism, because you look amazing.
Write Now
When you look intensely busy, people are less likely to interrupt you. Start that novel you always wanted to write. If you have nothing better to do and don’t want to start that next task, just start writing. People won’t question you, and if you work in a creative role, stick in your earbuds and just ride the wave. Sure, you’ll have to produce some actual work eventually, but for today, just dream the day away.
Remember, this is all just for fun. No one is advocating that you do these things on a regular basis. It is the end of the year and we are all tired, so having a little time to zone out isn’t all bad, if you have the best of intentions to return to form tomorrow.
