A Stultifying Atmosphere
For the past three weeks, I have been working full-time in an actual office. Yes, my days of sleeping until 8:30 (okay, sometimes 9:00) and then spending the first two hours of my morning working in my pajamas are over. Now I'm getting up at 6:30 to battle traffic so I can be at my desk by 8:30. All I have to say is, thank God I have the exemption stickers that let me drive my Prius solo in the carpool lane. I feel SO much better whizzing by on the freeway at 17 miles an hour when all the other poor schmoes are only doing about 7.
But here's the big, dirty secret. I come into the office, sit down, check my office email, and then, for the next seven hours and 55 minutes of the day, I have nothing to do. Well, last week was a little busier. Some days I did actual work for probably three whole hours. And it's not like I haven't tried to find tasks to occupy my time. I've told my co-workers that I am happy to help them out with any projects they have. But at the same time, I don't want to make too big of a deal out of my idleness, because I am filling in for someone who is on family leave, and if this person actually has some sweet setup where he's getting paid for doing very little, I don't want to be the one to rat him out. Plus, I'm supposed to be here for another few weeks, and I would like to keep collecting that paycheck.
On the other hand, I am beginning to be bored out of my mind. There's only so much online news I can read, you know? And I'm already checking my email obsessively. Luckily, my cubicle is in a back corner where no one can really see what I am doing, but it just feels wrong to bust out a novel or a crossword puzzle to pass the time. I know, I know. We should all have such problems. Seriously, though, I've got to find something to fill the empty hours. And blogging at work is out, since we all know how that turned out last time. Any suggestions?
But here's the big, dirty secret. I come into the office, sit down, check my office email, and then, for the next seven hours and 55 minutes of the day, I have nothing to do. Well, last week was a little busier. Some days I did actual work for probably three whole hours. And it's not like I haven't tried to find tasks to occupy my time. I've told my co-workers that I am happy to help them out with any projects they have. But at the same time, I don't want to make too big of a deal out of my idleness, because I am filling in for someone who is on family leave, and if this person actually has some sweet setup where he's getting paid for doing very little, I don't want to be the one to rat him out. Plus, I'm supposed to be here for another few weeks, and I would like to keep collecting that paycheck.
On the other hand, I am beginning to be bored out of my mind. There's only so much online news I can read, you know? And I'm already checking my email obsessively. Luckily, my cubicle is in a back corner where no one can really see what I am doing, but it just feels wrong to bust out a novel or a crossword puzzle to pass the time. I know, I know. We should all have such problems. Seriously, though, I've got to find something to fill the empty hours. And blogging at work is out, since we all know how that turned out last time. Any suggestions?
posted by Astera @ 10:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home