Mona / March 3, 2006 11:21 AM

Read this blog or the Tribune!

dayzella / March 3, 2006 11:29 AM

read gaper's, read chicagoist, read chicagonews.net, look at food blogs, post on craigslist and look at shoes online. then repeat til workday ends.

and if i get really desperate, i do work.

Shasta MacNasty / March 3, 2006 11:35 AM

1. Surf the internets.

2. Play the "burning house" game with other people looking to kill time at work. (Basically, it's a game where you say if you could pick 3 people/bands/etc., put them in a house, then set it on fire...who would you pick? You can kill a LOT of time with that one).

3. If the manager is up for it, take a "long lunch" with manager and rest of the team.

4. Surf the internets.

Big Purp Sippa / March 3, 2006 11:36 AM

In all seriousness, at my former job, the month of November and December were notorious for being slow, so in my third year there I took it upon myself to participate in national">http://www.nanowrimo.org>national novel writing month... over the course of November, December and January I wrote a 140,000-word book, around 1/2 to 1/3 of which was written at work. The nature of my job involves writing anyhow, so no one was the wiser, and if anything I scored brownie points with the bigwigs because I'd get going on a chapter and stay late to finish it.

At my current job I'm more busy so I just think about Z-Ro songs

Oketo / March 3, 2006 11:42 AM

www.flickr.com

Incredibly addictive and passes time better than just about anything after all the news websites have been read, gapersblock has been thoroughly read and when I'm out of inspiration to play with photoshop.

Oh and www.zappos.com

spence / March 3, 2006 11:42 AM

read the following websites/blogs:

gapersblock
chicagoist
tribune
washington post
new york times
center for public integrity

MikeH / March 3, 2006 11:51 AM

I repeatedly check out:

Gapers Block
Chicagoist
eBay
e-mail
CNN
Dogster

or in an attempt to better myself and expand my vocabulary, I look up random words on an array of online dictionaries...

or the other guy in my department and I watch movies (we have a small color television and DVD player in our work area)...

or I take a walk outside and get some fresh air...

Carrie / March 3, 2006 12:06 PM

I IM everyone about how bored I am and I keep them posted every 15 minutes or so that I'm still bored.

I play weboggle

I go make some tea

I go visit people (somehow staying in the office and visiting isn't as "naughty" as going for a 20 minute walk. like this way, there's a chance I'll be seen by a boss, still at work, possibly talking about work, but probably not, but I'm still technically at work.)

I read the news

I clean out my inbox (not all that exciting, but to have less than 200 emails is ideal)

I bitch about my supervisor

I post things like this

I look at the map on my wall and dream about my next vacation

I yawn a lot

hench / March 3, 2006 12:11 PM

i hang out here. i've also got a stockpile of 50 or so additional sites that i cycle through as necessary. so yeh - massive internet slack. plus frequent trips to hide out/stretch in the fire escape stairwell.

tony / March 3, 2006 12:15 PM

I just leave.

mike / March 3, 2006 12:29 PM

I can kick around on Flickr for hours. I can also kick around puppies for hours. But that's neither here nor there.

kennedy / March 3, 2006 12:31 PM

Run - at least and as far as possible from the freaks and asses I work with.

kennedy / March 3, 2006 12:33 PM

I should really use the "preview" command - esp since I have so much time on my hands.

I meant to say:
Run - as FAST and as far as possible....

Consumatron / March 3, 2006 12:42 PM

Read online news using bloglines.com.

Read Gapers Block

Update my review blog, Consumatron.com.

Hacksaw Jim / March 3, 2006 12:50 PM

I hunt for eBay deals on stereo equipment, CDs, clothes, and nice editions of books I like

I find torrents for music I want to check out and e-mail the links to my home e-mail account

I write dirty e-mail to long-distance girlfriends and friendly exes

I play Lightning Pool (http://www.playaholics.com/play/lightningpool/)

I browse a cycle of web sites, including this truly excellent one of local interest: http://www.chicagopolice.org/ps/list.aspx

dan / March 3, 2006 2:05 PM

Read this blog, chicagoist, Darkhorizons, CNN, and then troll music blogs for new music to listen to. I have an affinity for BrooklynVegan in particular.

Kevin / March 3, 2006 2:13 PM

The easiest place to waste work time has to be wikipedia. If you start to explore half the links on an entry, you can waste at least an hour.

Also, cuteoverload.com

Eamon / March 3, 2006 2:15 PM

I don't even know what "slow workday" even means anymore.

urp / March 3, 2006 2:41 PM

Strew some papers in front of me, hold pen in hand as if working, stare hard at said papers as if working, then: Daydream. Endlessly.
Best. Timesuck. Ever.

A / March 3, 2006 2:57 PM

Last Friday was slow and my bosses were out, and I was exceptionally tired, so I went into an empty office at the end of an empty part of the suite and laid down on a huge beanbag we have in there. I didn't intend to fall asleep, but at least two hours later, my friend and coworker woke me up to tell me it was already 5:30 and time to go home.

But normally I just surf the interwebs. I get a lot of mileage out of google-stalking everyone I've ever known.

Neta / March 3, 2006 3:26 PM

Wow...after reading all these entries, it occurs to me that I need to spend more time looking over my employees' shoulders!

Spencer / March 3, 2006 3:51 PM

blog.
:)

mike / March 3, 2006 3:53 PM

Neta, it's best not to disturb the delicate balance of the universe.

Oketo / March 3, 2006 3:58 PM

I second "mike:"
Neta, there is a little thing in this universe called Karma!

printdude / March 3, 2006 3:59 PM

What the hell is a slow day, you slacker bastards?

evil / March 3, 2006 4:02 PM

There's gotta be a "I have my job" or "I want my coworkers" blog out there somewhere right? Anyone know of any good ones? I need to vent.

Oketo / March 3, 2006 4:03 PM

Printdude - need an assistant?

oketo / March 3, 2006 4:03 PM

Printdude - need an assistant?

Leelah / March 3, 2006 4:11 PM

There's no such thing as a slow day when you're a teacher.
There is, however, such a thing as "you kids have to pretend I'm a substitute because I have to write a 16 page paper" day.

On the days when half the kids are out for field trips, I sit down and chat with the ones who are in about their lives.... always fun!

fluffy / March 3, 2006 4:21 PM

-go workout
-IM friends/sisters
-surf the internet
-attempt to organize my office
-stare out the window and daydream
-attempt to organize my entire life by making lists of everything I need to do
-play with my hair. I'll put it up in a bun, then a ponytail, then braid it, once I even colored it at work.

C-Note / March 3, 2006 6:52 PM

I love how they fill up these slow-day cubicle-jockey 'jobs' with retarded white people - it's like another form of welfare for lazy white people.

prairiemod / March 3, 2006 8:51 PM

I blog about Frank Lloyd Wright related items and the Prairie School in the 21st century at www.prairiemod.com. Check us out!

We recently had a couple of mentions:
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2006/03/prairiemod_goog.php

http://douglasanders.com/FLLW/457/prairiemod

http://www.hewnandhammered.com/hewn_and_hammered/2006/02/welcome_prairie.html

anon (female) / March 4, 2006 12:22 AM

I work on the phones all day at market research, so I don't have access to the Internet. I might do a little bit of reading, but lately I've been indulging in a lot of sexual fantasies that feature two potential boyfriends.

mike-ts / March 4, 2006 11:49 AM

I'm going to put this in my back pocket when I go out tonight (or any time I'm going to meet people), and when any of my buds goes on a rant on how unions are the sole reason workers are lazy time-killers nowadays, and that's why stuff's so expensive and nothing gets done, I'll have something to stuff in his mouth, since I'd bet almost all of you to a man and woman is either a) self-employed, b) non-union white collar/clerical, c) temping, or d) some form of management.

Oh, and my favorite time killers when I should be busy being productive are:
- reading books in coffeehouses and people watching
- reading sites like gapersblock, skoopy.com, strange cosmos
- looking at webcams
- doing mundane businessy paperwork housekeeping, the type of mindless crap I can get to anytime that really don't matter, but fill holes in the day with

Being self-employed has given me an unfocused idiot for a boss, so I get away with a ton of time waste. But every once in a blue moon the boss gets mad and punishes me with pancakes at ihop.

paul / March 4, 2006 7:11 PM

I wish I was the boss of all you people. That way, on a slow day I could waste time firing all of you. But like mike, I'm self-employed, so on slow days I'm busy threatening myself with the thought of obtaining a new boss. That usually gets me moving.

Seriously, I can justify some of my time wasting during working hours with reading work/design related blogs and sites. But the beauty of self-employment is that on a slow day, I don't need to waste my time sitting at work.

The flipside of that is that there can be no slow days when my tax bill is due in a month.

slb / March 6, 2006 8:28 AM

i think the point of this is that we're talking about *slow days,* so all of you can just can your vitriol, please. (especially you, C-Note- who are you to call other posters retarded or lazy? you don't know anything about me or my job.) i'd rather be busy doing something interesting than bored at work, as would everyone on here, i would guess.

but unfortunately that is not always (or even usually) possible in my line of work (white collar non-union clerical). so i post on gapersblock. and of course check out the usual, previously mentioned sites: chicagoist, wikipedia, various news sites. and lthforums, mcsweeney's, newscientist. and i email people. and i googlechat.

and of course daydreaming about winning the lottery is very high on my priority list.

Busted! / March 6, 2006 9:21 AM

I think C-Note's mad because his picture is on the prostitution arrests page.

matt.T. / March 6, 2006 9:29 AM

read GB, aquarius, workingForChange, edit personal photos, dusted, pitchfork, freakin' myspace, buzznet, and lotsa other time-killers that help keep my head level...

James / March 6, 2006 10:53 AM

I work from home and usually end up baking something on a slow work day. It seems that oatmeal raisen cookies are always in order.

It's Monday, I wonder if I have any raisins?