George’s Boss: It has come to my attention that you and the cleaning woman have engaged in sexual intercourse on the desk in your office. Is that correct?
George: (pause) Who said that?
George’s Boss: She did.
George: (long pause, obviously thinking of something to say) Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?

In honor of all those who just can’t wait to get the week the hell over with I present: ways to waste time at work.

So if for the moment you still care about giving the appearance of doing something than the following is for you.
1) The copier is my friend - When I do an intake there are about 30+ forms that I have to use. I spent the first half of the day simply making copies of those forms. I wouldn’t want to run out at the wrong time now would I?

2) Computer Clean-up - In these troubling times. our computers face so many threats. I find it imperative to run virus checks, delete old documents, Defragment, check for spy ware, re-organize files, and any thing else that will kill time.

3) A Cluttered Desk - When I say that other people tend to put things on my desk that is true. When I say I’m usually too busy to put everything away this is also true. I have found that having a cluttered desk gives you a chance to clean up. This could take quite a while. Some of these papers may be important…you never know.

4) The File Cabinet - Y’know despite alphabetical organization sometimes the files aren’t always properly placed. It’s important to make sure everything is in it’s correct spot. While you’re there you might as well look through the files to make sure everything is up to date. Who likes out of date files.

5) Re-Stock - Nothing is better than coming back to work and knowing you have everything you need. So at times like this I like to take a healthy look through the supplies to see what may be missing from my desk. Hey look we have rulers…not that I use need one.

6) Correspondence - As a professional one most continue to network and build strong ties, perhaps via email, Instant Messenger - hell you may even need to leave the office to go see people. Always keep your name on their lips. I’ve found that people who aren’t your boss tend not to care that you’re slacking off at their office. Yes I’m blogging, but I’m sharing ideas with other professionals!

7) Re-organize your drawers - You might be amazed at how much space you can gain by moving over the paper clips and putting pens in another drawer. For those of you who’ve noticed a pattern and are complaining: “But I’m always organized, I can’t do some of those.” Too bad no one told you to be neat at work. I just found a card from last Christmas in my desk.

8) To Do List -To some of you this may seem like actual work. For me, I’m the type that writes list and then can’t find them so I need a good memory anyway. Besides my goals remain the same. I don’t need a list to know what I have to do. It’s an excuse to zone out and then claim that I was thinking.

9) Organize your Calendar - Yeah another one. Well hell we’re moving into a new year. Might as well look ahead and start adding some things to your new calendar. Plus I tend to write numbers on mine so now is a good time to put them in the Rolodex.

10) Retrospective - I find that at these times it’s good to look back at the things you’ve done all year long. See where you’ve been so you can define where you’re going. Like I’ll take a look at some of my posts on Making Work Fun so I can write one tomorrow about things to do when you don’t care if it looks like you’re working or not.