The busy day at work. It’s not something most of us are fans of. Although we understand that, if we’re getting paid to do something, it can’t always be easy, part of us still wishes that we could coast through the entire week without having much tackle do aside from our normal, everyday tasks.
However, if you’ve ever had to slog through a slow period at work – when the client isn’t assigning new projects, or everyone is on vacation for the holidays – you know that, while the busy day may be a challenge, it’s far more appealing than the day when you have nothing to do.
That’s because. . .
It Makes The Time Go
If you’ve got a desk job, for about eight hours a day, you sit in a chair, trying to keep yourself occupied. That’s like, two Lord of the Rings films. When you’ve got work to do, as long as the tasks aren’t too stressful, you can find yourself distracted. You may not be thrilled with having to concentrate on such boring material, but at least it allows the time to pass more quickly.
On the day when you have few to no tasks to accomplish, you’re sitting still for about the same period of time as a hardcore meditator, without the benefit of working towards enlightenment. It’s exactly as much fun as it sounds.
You Earn Your Free Time
Whatever you like to do when you get home for the day, if you’ve got any work ethic at all, you know that you enjoy it much more when you feel like you’ve earned it. It’s difficult to take pleasure in a Netflix binge when you’ve been nothing but lazy for the past few hours.
After a busy day of work, though, you find great joy in exercising, or enjoying a glass of wine, or listening to music. You feel no guilt about indulging yourself, because you understand that you deserve this experience.
You Develop Skills
In any job, if you’re looking to get ahead, you need to make sure that you’re constantly focusing on developing the skills needed to succeed, along with maintaining the ones you already have. If you’ve got nothing to do, though, no work to help you achieve this goal, you’ll find that your talents begin to slip away from you. No matter what your job is, it’s just the same as any other type of skill, whether it’s a sport or playing an instrument. Without practice, you get sloppy, and reduce your own opportunities to improve.
You Avoid Overthinking
A little downtime at work is always a good thing. It gives you the chance to socialize, to bond with your coworkers, to let off a little steam. Unfortunately, you can’t be seen doing this for the entire workday, unless it’s your goal to get fired. As such, when you’ve got nothing to do at work, you spend most of the time sitting in silence.
For quite a few of us, this is a recipe for disaster. Your mind may be your friend in many instances, but when it’s bored, it probably settles into stress-inducing thought patterns that are difficult to get out of once they’ve gained momentum.
The problem is, on a slow day at work, you can’t do much to distract yourself. Most employers block the types of websites you might browse for fun, and even if they don’t, it’s not in your best interest to be caught checking them out in the office. The fact that you have nothing else to do may seem like a valid excuse to you, but your supervisor will probably see things differently.
So, you’re stuck with your thoughts. And those thoughts aren’t always pleasant.
You Contribute Something
While many of us like to pretend that an ideal life would be one that involved no responsibilities, lounging on the beach all day, in truth, we probably realize that in order to feel good about yourself, you need to contribute to the world. Few of us are truly satisfied with being a drain on society. That’s why employment is such a significant key to happiness. Obviously, the paycheck allows you to survive, but the knowledge that you play a role in the world gives your life meaning.
However, you may struggle to feel that way when you’ve spent your entire day at work pretending to be busy. Yes, the fact that you’re still employed indicates that someone thinks you’re valuable, but you might not believe it.
If, on the other hand, your day was one of constant work, with barely a chance to take a breath, you may be drained when it’s all over, but at least you’ll know that you’re contributing in some way.
And, even though we complain about it, that’s what work is. It gives us the opportunity to prove our own worth. Would you really want to relinquish that chance?
