We’ve all been there. There have been deadlines. Important deadlines. You’ve had to work late, maybe miss a drink or two with friends. Burning the midnight oil is no longer a turn of phrase but a literal problem; working at home, you left the oven on, too busy with budgets or copywriting to notice that your meal has burnt to a crisp in the kitchen. The work kept piling up and it seemed like it would never end.
Until it did.
And breathe. The event is over, the work has been signed off, the client is happy and you are done for the time being. You sit at your desk, fresh with a good night’s sleep, open your laptop and… Nothing. There is nothing to do.
It happens! Everyone has a quiet period, in every workplace in every industry. It’s boring. You’re struggling. You can’t look at a blank screen for eight hours a day, hoping that something comes through. Be positive – now it’s time for a breather, to get your life in check. Here’s what to do when you have absolutely nothing to do; of course, after you’ve checked with your line managers/bosses/colleagues that there really is nothing to do.
Set Goals
The first thing I would suggest would be setting some goals. Not only a productive way to fill time, this definitely helps straighten out my head and gives me a clear direction. Set goals for the week, for the end of the year, for the next five years, for the next ten. Take some time to really think about where you would like to be and map out the paths you need to walk to get there. You want that big house with the three German Shepherds and a team of employees beneath you. How are you going to get there? Write it down for later reference.
Reflect
When thinking back to all the hard work you’ve just put in, you’re reminded of an opportunity for promotion at the end of the year. Why do you deserve it? Write a list of all the things you’ve achieved this annum, however small. Any little jobs you’ve taken on as extra, the late nights you’ve put in without even a murmur of complaint. Write it down. Collate feedback; scroll through your emails and keep a copy of everything nice someone has said about you and your work so that you can pull them up in your review. Even if you’re not due a promotion it’s good to have these lists and add to them whenever you’re quiet so that you can use them when needed. (Plus, who doesn’t love reading nice things about themselves? Everyone needs an ego boost sometimes.)
Organise your desk
Isn’t it really time you went through your overflowing drawers and relieved them of paperwork? Do you really need the brainstorming sheet you created for that event in 2012? You’ve had that banana in your top drawer for a year now. Learn to let go. Take some time to rifle through all your belongings, then head to the shredder and feel the weight of past work lift from your shoulders. A tidy space is a tidy mind. Spring clean. Heck, buy some flowers and pop them on your completely empty desk for a little bit of joy. Fake ones, though, so you never have to throw them out. Genius.
Organise your computer
Okay, so you’re the kind of person that doesn’t keep old food or work in their drawers (no, that doesn’t mean you’re better than the rest of us). Perhaps you and your organisation have gone paperless – and kudos to you for helping to save the planet if you have! (Yes, in that case, it does mean you’re better than the rest of us.) But there’s always a place where someone is untidy, where they can bung things and not have to look at them for a while. For me – it’s my computer. My Documents are rife with loose bits of work, fonts, illustrations and ideas just floating with no purpose. My Downloads folder? Let’s not even go there.
Go through and do a bit of tidying up so that you keep what you need to keep and free up some storage deleting bits you don’t. Documents and images that should be in project folders… Well, they should be in project folders. Put them there. Even if the project finished three years ago, you or someone else may need to go back and find something from it. Make it easier for Future You. Whilst you’re at it, delete the random downloads you did nothing with. Clear your desktop. Change your wallpaper. Make your computer something fresh to sit down to each day.
Develop… Professionally
Focus on bettering yourself professionally in some way. If you have a short amount of time to kill – like an hour – read some articles that are relevant to your field. Search the web for blogs and websites of organisations in your industry and find out what they’re doing, thinking and talking about. Write a thinkpiece for your company’s blog.
If you have a lengthy amount of time to kill, why not try and learn a new skill? It may not even be immediately relevant to or necessary for your role – for example a designer learning to code when they have a whole host of developers at arm’s length – but it could certainly help in the future if an unexpected project pops up with nobody to handle it (“no, we don’t want to lose that fantastic Japanese client due to communication difficulties – I’ve just taught myself Japanese, so I can save the day!” Okay, so maybe it wouldn’t go quite like this, but can you imagine?!) or if, for example, in the above case of coding, some of the developers are out sick on a super important project right before a deadline… An extra pair of hands will do wonders.
Want to have lots of things to do in a relaxing, countryside-surrounded office with the loveliest people in the world? We’re always looking for passionate people to join our team. See if you have what it takes to be an Ignitionite (permanent employee nickname pending… any suggestions are welcome) – send us your CV! (And if you haven’t updated your CV in a while, that’s another thing you could do when you’ve got nothing to do. You’re welcome for the bonus tip.)
Ignition is an award-winning independent, full service provider of blended learning, training and marketing. We work in partnership with many of the world’s biggest brands, actively helping to improve knowledge, behaviours and performance. For further information about Ignition’s work please email [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1279 201100.