Sep 18

We've all been in this situation. All your coworkers have left for the day. They've gone home to spend quality time with friends and family. (Or they've gone home to at least eat some dinner!) You, on the other hand, sit and patiently await a client's revisions because he/she is under the gun to send a revised PDF to their client by end of day. I've found myself in this situation many times in the past. I've decided to write the top 10 things to do in a quiet, empty office while waiting for a client's revisions.

Top 10 Things to Do in the Office:

1. The Old Stand-By – Paper Ball/Trashcan Toss
   Have nothing to do? Place a trashcan on the opposite side of the room. Grab a few sheets of paper. (Preferably ones that have been use and are no longer needed.) Roll them up. Throw. Did you get it in the trashcan? If so, score a point for you! Down-side to this game – It gets boring very quickly.
   
   
2. Wiki Hopping
   Go to Wikipedia.com. Search a random word. Then jump from one site to another through the links inside each article. You'll be amazed at how much you learn just by hopping from one article to another!
   
   
3. Catch Up on News
   Who has time to look at the news during the day when you are being slammed with changes left and right from clients? Sit back and relax. Culture yourself. Find top news stories on CNN.com, Digg.com, or read the New York Times online!
   
   
4. Plan a Vacation!
   You feel a chill in the air and the days are getting shorter. Fall is soon approaching. You miss the long, hot summer days. Plan a vacation to a resort or an island! Hawaii anyone?
   
   
5. Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do!
   Open up iTunes. Play a few of your favorite songs. Sing as loud as you can. Don't worry. No one can hear you!
   
   
6. Learn New Dance Moves
   Pop in your favorite movie. Mine happens to be Dirty Dancing. Try to mimic the dramatic scene at the end of the movie when Patrick Swazye jumps off the stage. Side note: Watch out for end tables when jumping off office furniture. Sharp corners result in large bruises. Trust me…
   
   
7. Play with the Office Cats
   If your office is as cool as ours, you will have office cats, in addition to a variety of cat toys. My favorite game is "Catch the laser pointer." The cats will follow the laser pointer until they get bored. This game can last from 1-5 minutes depending on how interested the cats seem to be at that given time.
   
   
8. Facebook It.
   You work a lot. You realized you haven't seen your friends in a while. You are curious as to what they are doing. Catch up on their lives through Facebook! Look at recent pictures, find out who is dating who, who is engaged now, and what everyone is currently doing!
   
   
9. Pull a Harmless Prank.
   Cut a small piece of tape and place it under everyone's mouse. Next day, your coworkers will be horrified when they realize their mouse is not working! Or so it seems.
   
   
10. Surf the web
    Google "How to Kill Time In the Office" and see what pops up. I found this very cool video called EepyBird's Sticky Note Experiment. Warning: This video contains an abundant amount of post it notes. I apologize to anyone who has an aversion to these harmless little pieces of paper.