Despite the havoc it can wreak on your personal life and commute, at work, the weeks of and around Christmas are a time when most people relax and clients finally leave you alone. It’s a welcome break, but after a while, the lack of work can be a bit boring. To help you kill time at the office, here are five productive things that you can do.
1. Clean out your inbox.
You’ve probably accumulated a load of email messages throughout the year, half of which are probably from different subscriptions and selling sites that you haven’t even opened. Now’s a good time to delete all the unnecessary junk from your inbox to give you that great “new beginning” feeling once 2015 steps in. Just be careful about ticking those boxes—you don’t want to delete important mail by accident.
2. File important documents and throw out or recycle old ones.
Physically clearing old documents from your file cabinets can be very therapeutic. According to About.com, cleaning can act as a stress buster, and “if you incorporate mindfulness into your cleaning, the work can actually be a form of meditation, leaving you more relaxed after you finish.” Cleaning can also clear the clutter not just from your space, but also from your mind, making both ready to take in new things.
3. Arrange your pay slips.
Some people who get paper pay slips just stuff them in their drawers, thinking that they don’t have any use aside from telling you how much you got. In fact, pay slips serve other important purposes, and are needed when applying for credit cards, home utilities, and even visas. So if you’ve managed to keep some or most of them, file them neatly in a folder. You may not see why you need them now, but you’ll thank yourself later for doing so.
4. Improve your processes with guides, templates, and e-forms.
The holiday lull can be a great time for you to think of a system that will help you expedite your tasks. If your work requires several steps, create a guide for your team so that they’ll better understand the things needed to be done before you can help them. Online templates and e-forms can also improve your turn-around time, not to mention help lessen paper costs.
5. Level up your skills.
Doing nothing but spinning on your seat? Sign up for an online class or watch DIY videos. Maybe start learning a new language. Whether or not it’s work-related, at least you’ll get to learn something new before the day is over.
Featured image by Beth Rankin via Flickr Creative Commons