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Down Time At Work — What Do You Do?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the read-more-slashdot dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I work in IT and find fairly often that I have 'down time.' I'll usually browse the web (Slashdot) or try to find something informative or educating to read. Sometimes, I even get caught up working on my personal webpage or other project that isn't exactly work related. What does everyone else do during these times, and how much time do they spend on non-work related things while at work?"

23 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Ping Pong... by hbean · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...is a very serious sport.

    --
    "Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
  2. Asking slashdot? by techpawn · · Score: 4, Funny

    What IT does with Downtime? You must be new here

    --
    Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
    1. Re:Asking slashdot? by Mr2cents · · Score: 5, Funny

      I get myself a coffee and go looking for a coworker with an imminent deadline, and have a chat, asking thing like "How was your holiday" or things like that.

      Evil, I know. But it's still funny.

      --
      "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
    2. Re:Asking slashdot? by ImaLamer · · Score: 3, Funny

      Your answer:

      5,462 replies beneath your current threshold.

      --
      Get your Unix fortune now!
    3. Re:Asking slashdot? by hobo+sapiens · · Score: 4, Funny

      I bark at people like you.

      No, seriously.

      Someone came to ask me a stupid question that a Google search could have answered, and yes, you guessed it: I had a deadline.

      So I started barking.

      He never came back again.

      --
      blah blah blah
  3. research or education by alta · · Score: 3, Funny

    I research things that will make my company perform better, or I educate myself so I can perform better for the company myself. Have fun working on that website while you're out of work ;)

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
    1. Re:research or education by lonesome_coder · · Score: 5, Funny

      I could have sworn I heard somebody say something from underneath my bosses desk...

      Hmmm...

      --
      If you'd just do what we tell you and quit yer gripin' everything would be chocolate sprinkles and rainbows! -AC
    2. Re:research or education by Kepesk · · Score: 3, Funny

      I also educate myself in methods of making the company better. I find that the financial patterns of Eve Online are quite informative, and I rely on what I learn there for my everyday work habits.

      --
      Help me fix my brother's injured butt!
    3. Re:research or education by SparkleMotion88 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I did that until I perfected myself and my work environment. Now I wander around the office improving other people.

    4. Re:research or education by uhlume · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you don't find yourself needing a few minutes of non job-related "downtime" every two or three hours to work out the mental kinks, you're probably not working that hard to begin with. Have fun congratulating yourself on your "superior work ethic" as you shuffle windows on your desktop all day, and pray your management never institutes meaningful performance metrics.

      --
      SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
  4. Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    A) Read Slashdot.
    B) Submit stories to Slashdot.
    C) Play video games stored on thumb drive.
    D) Avoid getting more work.

    Anything else?

  5. obligatory bash.org quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny


    #258908 +(12416)- [X]

      : If they only realized 90% of the overtime they pay me is only cause i like staying here playing with Kazaa when the bandwidth picks up after hours.
      : If any of my employees did that they'd be fired instantly.
      : Where u work?
      : I'm the CTO at LowerMyBills.com
    *** Ben174 (BenWright@TeraPro33-41.LowerMyBills.com) Quit (Leaving)

  6. Box Folding by mouse_8b · · Score: 4, Funny

    I fold pizza boxes. Also, be sure to tip your pizza deliverer well.

    1. Re:Box Folding by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 5, Funny

      I study topology in addition to working full time

      Is that code for eating doughnuts? If so, I am a topology master.

      --

      There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
  7. Hmmm by tgd · · Score: 4, Funny

    I read Digg.

    (and wonder how moderators will interpret posts on /.)...

    1. Re:Hmmm by peterpi · · Score: 3, Funny

      Somebody's going to post the link, so it might as well be me :)

      http://xkcd.com/214/

  8. This. by techstar25 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I do this.

  9. Re:Isn't it obvious? by KiloByte · · Score: 3, Funny

    I read and post on Slashdot, you dolt! No, that's what you do during regular work time.
    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  10. I visit my other cubical... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's right, I go take a three hour shit (at a minimum). I bring some reading material and I challenge myself to see how long I can stay in there before my I lose all feeling in my legs and have to leave.

    It's better than surfing the web or doing personal stuff at your desk because you could never be fired for taking too long to shit; that would be discrimination.

  11. Down Time? by gfxguy · · Score: 4, Funny

    What do you do with down time?

    Down what?

    Down time.

    What time?

    Down time.

    What what?

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.
  12. I can't decide.... by doyoulikeworms · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll just start doing whatever gets modded highest here.

  13. There is no downtime. by leuk_he · · Score: 3, Funny

    Until the coffemachine breaks. That means panic.

    Other than that it is just slow response from the system.

  14. Re:Slashdot? by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 3, Funny

    "IT Satrap", sounds like something from a business card.