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The truth of the matter is in many job corporate or otherwise people tend not to be very busy. In my experience people spend more time looking busy and announcing to everyone about how busy they are than actually being busy. Most jobs once mastered aren't that hard. Unless one is on a manufacturing line, working in telemarketing, working in retail or at a restaurant or any processing job where there is a constant flow of new tasks they aren't that busy. Many people get paid for doing little but keep quiet because they don't want to eliminate their job. Others dont give you work b/c they dont have much to give either
The key is to spread out your tasks. Target process improvement projects. Join committees. Do process documentation (training modules for your succcessor), Volunteer for tasks that have gone undone for years, Make a list of whats broken and try to fix it
Just know what youre experiencing is the unspoken norm....
Thanks. I appreciate your advice. I've actually already documented our entire process and trained all the new hires. I've tried volunteering but nothing has come of it. And currently there is nothing broken to fix.
I'm just heavily frustrated with having to try to find things to do all day long while I watch the clock til 5 and its becoming so aggravating. I had this problem when I was a new grad some 10 years ago and it infuriates me that I still have this problem all these years later, like nothing has changed.
Take on-line classes and get some new certifications.. I'm working on my PMP by taking course modules in my free time. I also make up my own projects to work on. Your larger comopany may have things you can volunteer to get involved with or lead , like charity activities. I've also taken on cross-organizational coordination roles within our larger business unit outside of my organization.
Nobody's going to hand you a syllabus for your career so you need to manage your own personal growth. You have a luxury a lot of people don't and you should be making the most of it.
^^^That! in my 30+ years in corporate America I never once had job downtime because I always had a second boss demanding I take classes, develop programs, document and improve processes, implement new products. That 2nd master was me!
^^^That! in my 30+ years in corporate America I never once had job downtime because I always had a second boss demanding I take classes, develop programs, document and improve processes, implement new products. That 2nd master was me!
After 3 years of online grad school, I was soo hoping to be done with classes but I guess in this job market, none of us are ever finished learning.
But some of your other suggestions I will consider. Can't hurt and I definitely have the time. And if nothing else, maybe I'll put these things on my resume for the next opp!
Just know what youre experiencing is the unspoken norm....
Good luck
This is so true. My sister, brother-in-law and I are all looking for new jobs. I thought the extreme boredom I have with my job was just me, but they have the same complaints. I think that not having enough to do is much more common than most people think. What kills me about it is that I have so many things I want to do, but that I simply cannot do from my desk. If I could just do my job and leave, I would be in heaven. The worst part is that I have to sit here for hours regardless of how fast/slow I work and as a result I will procrastinate until there is a deadline. I've asked managers repeatedly to give me more deadlines and more work, but it's a futile battle, in my experience.
This is so true. My sister, brother-in-law and I are all looking for new jobs. I thought the extreme boredom I have with my job was just me, but they have the same complaints. I think that not having enough to do is much more common than most people think. What kills me about it is that I have so many things I want to do, but that I simply cannot do from my desk. If I could just do my job and leave, I would be in heaven. The worst part is that I have to sit here for hours regardless of how fast/slow I work and as a result I will procrastinate until there is a deadline. I've asked managers repeatedly to give me more deadlines and more work, but it's a futile battle, in my experience.
I hear ya. During a meeting today with my dept. we were giving a small task of going back and checking some records in the system which we are all thrilled to do (we all have the same downtime problem). So someone asked when is this due? August. Of course its a simple task and we'd run right through it but of course there is no real deadline or priority placed on it.
And its been nothing but a futile battle for me too. I've nearly begged for more work, more responsibilty, for deadlines. They just don't have it to give.
^^^That! in my 30+ years in corporate America I never once had job downtime because I always had a second boss demanding I take classes, develop programs, document and improve processes, implement new products. That 2nd master was me!
Hmmm, I just had a thought.
The biggest improvement that my dept is trying to make is to automate our entire process. We're currently all contractors hired to work on a federal regulation communication peice that is very manual right now but they want to automate the whole thing, which would essentially put most of us out of a job.
So should I brainstorm ways to help this and possibly speed up the process?
On one hand, maybe that could show my project management expertise but on the other, it made lead me faster to unemployment.
The biggest improvement that my dept is trying to make is to automate our entire process. We're currently all contractors hired to work on a federal regulation communication peice that is very manual right now but they want to automate the whole thing, which would essentially put most of us out of a job.
So should I brainstorm ways to help this and possibly speed up the process?
On one hand, maybe that could show my project management expertise but on the other, it made lead me faster to unemployment.
This is exactly why most people have mastered the art of appearing busy and communicating to management how "busy" they are so as not become dispensable. Nevertheless, do it. Why not. If you are successful at it, they'll probably assign you harder tasks or even promote you. Dont only do it take the lead, incorporate others, really show project and team management skills...
This is exactly why most people have mastered the art of appearing busy and communicating to management how "busy" they are so as not become dispensable. Nevertheless, do it. Why not. If you are successful at it, they'll probably assign you harder tasks or even promote you. Dont only do it take the lead, incorporate others, really show project and team management skills...
Agree! It sounds like you were hired to do something that you are not doing if you are not working on it. And now you are saying you don't have enough work to do.
Agree! It sounds like you were hired to do something that you are not doing if you are not working on it. And now you are saying you don't have enough work to do.
My work depends on requests that come in from relationship managers. When a request comes in, a communications peice is created and we go through a review and approval process. But the volume of requests has dropped so dramatically from when I first started that it barely takes me a full hour to complete daily work.
I believe they originally predicted a much higher volume of work but that did not come to be. Now why they hired more people is still beyond me.
[quote=War Beagle;28534691]I probably have no more than 5 hours of honest-to-goodness work in a week. The rest of the time is simply being present. I've tried to actively find more work to do and to learn skills in different areas, but that just ended up irritating my boss and other directors.quote]
That's what happens to me. In the process of finding something to do to fill the hours, I end up following up on all the minutae to the point that I over-pester people and end up annoying them because it detracts from their work and/or shows them up as lazy.
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