What to do when you’re not busy at work
By Alex Leix, Media and Communications Specialist
As the holidays approach and projects wrap up, I found that I have more downtime during the work day than I thought I'd have. I started thinking about what I could do now that I wouldn’t be able to get to during a crazy time like the new year. We’re always receiving advice on how to stay organized when we are busy, but let’s be honest here, sometimes you’re just not that busy, and you don’t know what to do with yourself. If you’re in that position, here are three productive tasks you can do during those slow work days.
Organize, organize, organize!
Take this time to organize anything and everything. I’m talking about files in computer desktop folders and emails in your inbox. Delete what you don’t need anymore and archive what you may need down the road. For example, my inbox is organized with different colored labels that correspond to each client folder. Under each client folder is a drop down folder for the year then another drop down folder under that for each month. As the month goes on, I move emails to those monthly folders. I may not need the email thread in my inbox anymore, but I know I don’t want to delete it outright. This helps tremendously if you do monthly or quarterly reports for clients, if you need to reference a past email conversation regarding a specific client or in case you need to find a document sent to you that didn’t save to your desktop.
Improve your craft.
There are so many ways to educate yourself and become the master of your craft, especially if you’re new to the working world. Complete an educational course to strengthen your skills or watch webinars to refresh your knowledge about key trends happening in your industry. As a Media and Communications Specialist for Bohlsen Group, I recently completed a training course on the fundamentals of media relations, which was filled with helpful insight, advice and tips that I started implementing in my work the very next day. I was then able to add the certification to my LinkedIn profile, which shows employers and peers the willingness to learn more, even after you’ve landed the job.
Plan ahead.
Set work or life goals you want to achieve in the new year. It’s beneficial to recognize your strengths and what you do well and identify weaknesses and what you want to improve upon. Like me, I’m sure there were projects or other tasks you worked on throughout the year that you want to approach differently next year, or maybe you already have new ideas you want to recommend to your clients. Write those down now so you don’t forget later! Additionally, there may not be tasks that need to get done right now, but you could work ahead and get started on some to lighten your load in the new year. You can also write down important dates in your planner such as vacations, volunteer events, weddings and appointments that you’ll need to block out time for.