50 Productive Things To Do At Your Work When You Get Bored

by

First of all, it is completely natural to feel bored sometimes. It also comes from not feeling much productive or stuck. 

Sometimes it comes from the overwhelming feeling that might be going on in your life. 

The monotonous life at the work can also lead to exhaustion in the form of boredom and lack of focus. 

The reason for such boredom sometimes is also the less social interaction and personal connections as well. 

Apart from all this, you might be a workaholic continuously giving your most of the time to the work. 

Having something to do extra with your work is essential. 

And if you are too worried about wasting your time, there are a lot of productive things that are not directly or at all related to your work that can help. 

You need to understand what productive but still interesting and even fun things you can do to get rid of this work fatigue and boredom. 

Well, we have worked for you here listing the 50 productive things you can do at work when you feel bored. 

Write Thank You Messages or Response Emails 

Whenever you get yourself some time at hand, one of the best uses of it is to write thank you messages. 

And even best, you can write it by hand. 

Whether you are doing business or work in a company, sending handwritten thank you letters to customers and clients are always effective communication. 

Image Source: wikiHow

Or if not, you can write response emails or gratitude emails to all the people you are in communication with. 

There are always some emails or conversations in your inbox which require response pending and you might have been procrastinating or just ignoring. 

Well, this is the time to respond to those emails. 

You can even send emails or emails to your family and friends as well.  

Write Affirmations 

Whenever you feel anxious or restless, you need something that helps you retain your balance and make you feel positive. 

Image Source: The Joy Within

That’s what affirmation helps you. Write down some positive affirmations when you feel helpless or stressed out. 

Affirmations can help you manifest positivity in your life and activate positive energy around you. 

Clean Your Email Newsletter 

This might be sitting at your to-do list for quite long. Everyone knows they need to declutter their email inbox, and especially clean-up their newsletters. 

You might have subscribed to tons of email newsletters over a period of time, and must be receiving like hundreds of them just in a few days. 

Image Source: Tech Donut 

It just burdens your inbox and makes you scroll more and more while checking up emails. 

Worst part is that a lot of email newsletters are important to you which got overlooked due to this excess receiving. 

Lot of them even got irrelevant over the time or some of them are just mistakenly subscribed. 

So finally get some time around and unsubscribe to all the newsletters you don’t need or read now. 

Create Your Meal Plan & Grocery List 

One of the best ways to make your time productive and save yourself some at home is to plan out your meals. 

Deciding meals for the day or for the week is a crucial task and requires time. This at the moment can be really hassling or time-taking. 

Image Source: Alia Dalal

Since you have some time to spare, make your meal plans for the day or the week. You can also create the grocery list accordingly to prevent yourself from impulse buying. 

This just not will save you time but also money as well. You will be spending more cautiously and decide for better alternatives to buy. 

Make sure you put your grocery list on the sticky notes or reminder on your phone. 

Review Your Schedule

It is always better to be prepared. So use this time to review your schedule for this week or even for a month. 

You can even check how well you worked on your schedule in the past few weeks or months as well. 

This time also gives you an opportunity to introspect on your travel plans, recent holidays or any upcoming big event you are preparing for. 

You might find out some extra tasks to do or things to get done with. So be ready to make a to-do list. 

Learn A New Language 

Well, this is certainly not something you just do once or twice in your spare time but have to get more committed. 

However, this is amongst the most productive things to do in your consistent free time at your work or home as well. 

Learning a language requires some commitment and consistent work on it over time. 

Image Source: dsrvmalad.org

Best part about learning a language is you don’t have to sit through long lessons everyday. 

There are plenty of online language courses or even applications that can help you learn any language. 

Even giving 15 minutes daily or a few hours a week can make you really good in an extra language. 

This might even add up in your resume very well improving your value for the job.

Practise The Current Skills You’re Learning 

If you are not looking forward to learning some extra skill, there must be something you are already learning or need to work on. 

The best use of the spare time is to spend practising the current skill you’re learning or utilizing.

You need to be the specialist in what you do, so better spend more time practising it. It will help you increase your overall worth or get the promotion quicker. 

Practise is the key to success, and that’s true for all great and successful people in the world. So you should use some time on your skill for the practise as well.  

Read Something Valuable To You 

Scrolling through social media isn’t reading or a productive way to spend your time at work for sure. 

You can always pull a good book to read in your spare time. 

Lovely Asian young lady portriat – happy woman lifestyle concept

  Image Source: OVX India

This book can be related to your skill or industry or even can be just about something personality development, self-help or something informative. 

Any book that helps you build good personality traits or leadership qualities are great reads to go for. 

Or you can also go for some fictional book to give your mind some break. Reading any book still helps you build concentration and focus.  

Just make sure whatever you’re reading is valuable to you and your time. 

Learn Speed Reading 

One of the best skills to learn in your free time is speed reading. It is about reading faster than the unusual things you do. 

It gives you leverage over others where you will be able to read faster than others.  

Faster reading allows you to complete reading books faster than others, save time and improve yourself.  

Fast reading is an essential skill for leaders and successful entrepreneurs. 

Read Books 

Image Source: Sweety High

Reading books is definitely one of the most productive habits you can acquire. It can do a lot for you starting from expanding your thinking capabilities. 

You can learn a lot from books, acquire new skills or information. It also makes you feel less stressed and relaxes your mind as well. 

Even if you feel lonely, books can be really good companions. Also, it makes you more creative and focussed in life. 

Organize Your Inbox  

If you have stocked piles of unread or unnecessary emails in your inbox, you’ve got tons of work to do. 

Organizing your inbox or emails isn’t really something you find time to get sorted but surely it is important to do. 

So this is your time to organize your inbox according to priorities and important stuff. You can create different folders categorizing the type of emails. 

Remove all the spam, promotional or unnecessary emails taking up place in your inbox. 

There are various email tools available to clean, control and manage the emails in your inbox. 

Practise Mandala Art Therapy 

Mandala Art Therapy includes mindful and meditative drawing techniques that help you calm your mind. 

Image Source: Art Therapy Reflection

This drawing technique includes geometric drawing patterns to restore your peace of the mind. 

You would love this therapy especially when you feel too much stress about the work. 

Check For Your Daily Tasks 

You may not have anything to do according to your own schedule but it is important to check your official project management software or tool as well. 

There might be something coming up for you to complete. It can be something added from your team leader or other member. 

Make sure you check your project management software to see whether there is any daily task updated for you. 

Go For A Short Walk 

Since you have a desk job, it is highly unlikely that you get a chance to move much. It is critical that you do some physical activities whenever you get a chance. 

Even at work, make sure you give yourself some break from the work and go for a short walk. 

Image Source: eUni

And since you got some time at hand, the best use is to go for a short walk outside. 

You can prefer to have lunch outside or get yourself coffee from Starbucks at some distance from your office. 

Just find some reason to get up from your desk and get yourself some fresh air. This can help you boost your mood dramatically and make you more productive. 

Make A Life Plan 

This is the best time to make a life plan otherwise you are never going to get time to make one. 

A life plan helps you analyze how your life has been panning out. 

You get a way to reflect on things on what could be better, what improvements you can make, how things went wrong etc. 

Even if you are reflecting on your past decisions and situations, it is still in a positive light and to learn from. 

Wherever you’re at now in your life, you can still make short-term and long-term plans for your life. 

Declutter & Organize Your Desk 

Messy desks with overstacked files, scattered printed pages, old newspapers and a lot of unnecessary stationary lying is something common at workplaces. 

But then, decluttering is an important thing to do every once in a while. In fact, at least once a day can really improve your productivity. 

    Image Source: Infoindians 

In case for some reason, if you are not finding time to organize your desk, use this time to declutter. 

Remove all the unnecessary or extra items that you don’t need from the desk. Have only the immediate-basis stuff at the desk. 

Trash all the non- required papers to the shredder and then to the dustbin. Organize the files according to their priorities.

Put most of the folders in the drawer or the racks. Create some space on the desk to use. 

Decluttering helps to bring clarity into your workplace and to your mind as well. It will psychologically help you to focus and concentrate. 

You would feel more control and at peace after decluttering your workspace and organizing everything. 

It is most certainly the best way to clear your head at the workplace. 

Practise Color Therapy 

Coloring is not just for kids! Colouring therapy can actually relieve stress and anxiety in adults. 

Whether you’re bored or feel bit off, get some adult coloring books, crayons and start colouring. 

You will feel how it makes you centered at your core and calm. There are even online colouring websites as well. 

Focus On Creating The Long-Term Strategy

Most of the people are caught up in fulfilling the short-term goals, and even more than to the service for the urgent works. 

So much so that they often miss the big picture to see. The lack of time and focus giving to the long-term strategy blinds you for great profits. 

You can prevent that from happening to yourself by spending some time on your long-term strategy. 

See how things are going to pan out after a year or 10 year with the work you are giving in. 

You need to look for what you really want from life or your work in upcoming years. A true leader or great entrepreneurs always have a vision to fulfil in the long run. 

Create bigger goals and long-term strategies for your work and see how it helps your short-term goals and tasks as well. 

Read Some Exciting Blogs 

One of the best ways to spend your time on the web and still be productive is to read helpful and informative blogs. 

Just make sure you select topics or niches that really interests you and make you excited to learn about. 

Or it also can be related to your career or the skill you’re learning. You can also give things a break and read some story or fiction-based blogs as well. 

Work On Your Social Media Profiles 

You must not get much time to work on your social media profiles. 

It is necessary evil to do these days as a lot of communication and presentation comes from online profiles. 

Image Source: Jennifer Grant International 

They even act as a portfolio or hiring ground for lots of companies. So it is important that you keep your social media profiles updated. 

Since you have this time at your hand, use this to share some posts on your social media profiles, change your photos, write some updates and more. 

LinkedIn profiles are specifically something you need to focus on and keep working on every once in a while. 

You can update your accomplishments, recent projects, tours and other updates regarding your professional life. 

Arrange All Pictures & Files In Your Phone/Laptop In Folders

Image Source: Quick and Dirty Tips 

Everytime you open your phone or desktop folders, the next thing you realize is there is too much stuff out and it’s all un-organized. 

There are useless screenshots that you don’t need, duplication of images, blurred photos and irrelevant old files a lot more. 

It just makes you miss all the good stuff in your phone or laptop. Also, makes it almost impossible to find something from it. 

It is high-time when you organize all the stuff in your phone and laptop categorically. 

Creating separate folders event-wise or year-wise and sort all images accordingly makes it easy to find them. 

Delete all the trash photos or anything that you don’t need now. Your future self is going to thank you when he or she opens the laptop or phone next time. 

Watch A Ted Talk 

You can do a lot with your time but people often spend checking out social media posts or just watching Netflix. 

This is mostly because they want to relax or do something least strenuous. Well, spending time on social media or watching netflix is surely not productive. 

Image Source: TED

But if you really want to still be at ease and still make it productive, the best you can do is watch a Ted Talk. 

You still will be relaxing and watching something but more valuable, insightful or informative to you. 

Watching Ted Talks quite often will help you develop different perspectives and be more informative in the long run. 

Make A Vision Board 

If the name doesn’t state clearly, vision is a collage of images, graphics or words representing your aspirations and goals. 

Image Source: Altered Mind Waves 

This is such a great thing to do in order to move towards your dreams. And since you have free time at your hand, this can be a really productive step to do at this time. 

You can use some old newspapers and magazines and paste them on a cork board or foam-board. 

Bring-in needed pictures, print-outs and cut-outs to really put out your dream visually. This is your time to be as creative as possible. 

Clean Up Your Spam Folder 

Spam folder of your email accounts is just the last place you would go unless some important email gets caught up there. 

Lot of times many important emails or updates end up in your spam folder and just because you never check, you won’t find out. 

Image Source: Business Insider 

It is important to keep checking your spam folder and cleaning it out. Approve all the legitimate emails that should show up in your inbox. 

Remove all the spam emails, fraudulent messages or offer emails from the spam folder. 

If you don’t check your spam folder very often, you might find out some old friend’s email for an invite for their wedding. 

Clear Out Your Due Payments, Bills & Income Taxes 

You might be procrastinating on paying some bills or clearing out the due payment for a while. 

Well, this is definitely the time to complete the tasks. They might not seem urgent but surely they are important. 

And, even it can be urgent if you are going to miss the deadline for filing your income tax.

Help Your Colleagues 

This might not sound as a typical productive advice to make use of your time but just bear till the end. 

When you are finished with your work and have some spare time at your hand where your friends or colleagues are still working, you can certainly help. 

Image Source: Money Crashers 

Helping your colleagues develops team spirit and good communication amongst office employees. 

You are investing in people, and the goodwill which will get back to you in one way or another. 

Also, helping others is only going to improve your skills. Solving their problems will make you more practised in the task at hand. 

Not to forget, the kind of relationship you would develop at your workspace. It will show up in the collaborative projects as well. 

Update Your Resume 

These kinds of work are perfect to be completed in these free or bored times. Updating your resume is often overlooked and almost done in the last hours. 

You don’t know when you will need it! So better use this time to update your resume without any hassle and be more detailed. 

Try Journaling 

Journaling is one of the best ways to make your time productive. It helps you bring more solutions to your mind and keep you on track. 

Image Source: Verywell Mind 

Growth journaling is something that works highly effectively for entrepreneurs or office people. 

Just take out 15 minutes to write out the current problems you’re having and brainstorm through all the possible solutions. 

It will make you more creative and productive at work and in life as well. 

Journaling also helps you to manage your day-to-day routine, tasks and affirmations as well. 

Create A Routine For Yourself 

If you don’t know what to do and feel bored, it can also be due to lack of the right direction to move or the overwhelming amount of the tasks. 

Either way, you need a well-developed routine to manage your time smartly and work efficiently. 

So, use this time to introspect and create a routine that matches your goal. Make this routine according to your 5-year and 10-year plans. 

Also, consider the daily tasks and work you are currently doing. Add miscellaneous and other things to do in life as well. You are doing yourself a great favour by doing this!

Do Some Stretching At Your Desk 

For desk working people, a sedentary lifestyle can be a real enemy of your health. It is crucial that you keep moving yourself every once a while. 

Fortunately, you can do that at your desk only, in case you cannot go out for a short walk. 

Image Source: The Economic Times 

Do some stretching at your desk for just 5 minutes. Just move your head, hands and spine in the right way and you’re good for a few hours to work. 

You can always stand up and find some spot to stretch your arms and legs as well. The best way still is to go for a little walk outside or go to the bathroom. 

The goal is here to not sit too long in one position while working at your desks. 

Read Some News About Your Industry 

Learning more about your industry or company will help you grow faster as an employee or entrepreneur. 

Having this time at your hand, you can learn more about your latest updates and news going on related to your industry. 

Catch up on the trends going on, and how socio-economic situations are impacting the business. 

You can read about customer behaviour, market research, industry news and so much more to  improve your understanding for the business. 

There are tons of publications, news media and online resources to learn about your industry, product or company as well. 

Start Your Own Podcast 

Podcasting is a huge trend and only going to scale in upcoming years. 

The best part is anyone can start it who has some kind of expertise or passion in a topic. 

If you get some time very often, you can start podcasting. Share your expertise or experience with the world. 

You don’t need expensive equipment or studio setup and even don’t need a camera or require to on video for this. 

Help Others With Your Expertise 

Sharing your expertise with others is not just a practise ground for you but also helps you grow as a person. 

Not to mention the kind of relationship you grow with people, your neighbours, your friends, relatives or colleagues. 

Just use your talent and experience to help them in one way or another. It can be a visit to their house to resolve their problem or even just some advice on a phone call. 

Another way to share your expertise is publish your articles on blogs or you can write your own as well. 

There are various forums such as Quora or Reddit, you can help the needy guys there too.

Digitize Your Business Cards 

You must have a stack of business cards with you, especially after that last seminar or conference.  

Image Source: Digitec

Well, it becomes really tricky to keep all those business cards physically with you safe and sound for a long time. 

And everyone you meet can be important at times, so you wouldn’t want to miss someone’s business card when needed. 

To avoid this situation, the best you can do is digitize all the business cards. 

Nowadays there are plenty of smartphone apps that can help you with that. 

Make sure you save all the business cards with some notes attached to it. 

Scheduling Coffee With Your Colleagues 

Every company has an employee who makes things happen at the place. The person who is the power broker of your office. 

You need to interact more with this person. Getting to know him or her will only help you further. 

Pick their brain up regarding their career path or some major professional advice. They can be the best person to learn from. 

Talking with experienced employees or seniors at your office will make your more productive and focussed towards the goals. 

Meditate, Pray or Sit In The Silence 

One of the best things to do in your free time at work is give yourself a break from all the stress. 

Find peace within by calming yourself for sometime. You can meditate to make your mind still and relax. 

Or if you are a religious person or just more believe in prayers, do that for a while. Prayers help you calm your mind and connect your soul to the ultimate god. 

Even if you do not know to meditate or are not much of a prayer person, sitting in silence can help you collect your thoughts. 

Start Vlogging On Youtube 

Vlog, nowadays isn’t uncommon as much as it used to be.

 If you often have some time spared and want to share your life to the world, vlogging can be great. 

It depends upon whether you are more a camera person and would like to share things to the world or not. 

You can begin this as more like a hobby where you can share some experience in your professional field as well. 

Vlogging also helps you communicate with people and connect to the world. 

Review Your Financial Investments & Expenses 

Looking back at your expenses and investment is a very important ritual to do every once in a while. 

It will help you understand your spending patterns, expenses and investment returns. 

Reviewing your investment will help you understand what investments are giving you more returns, higher ROIs or where you need to stop investing. 

You can review your financial decisions, check your savings and all the expenses to control, manage and optimize it. 

It is most certainly one of the best uses of this free time you’ve got into your hands. 

More To Explore:

Was this article helpful?