Bored @ Work?

Internships usually fall into two categories. Either you’re:

• drowning in a sea of assignments, unable to even pause and take a breath, praying constantly that today won’t be the day you spill the mountain of coffee to-go cups teetering dangerously in their feeble cardboard container, or…
• you have absolutely nothing to do, and watching paint dry would likely be a better use of your day.

If you’re in the latter category, this post is for you.

Being bored at work can be miserable. Clad in stiff, uncomfortable office-appropriate attire, confined to a creaky, sad chair at a lonely corner desk under the unforgiving glow of industrial office lighting, the hours can drag on endlessly. 5:00 may seem like light years away. So many temptations start to look attractive – browsing Facebook, a casual two-hour lunch break, starting a prolonged text conversation with that one friend who you know is just as bored as you are…

But you were selected for this position. You are in an office with brilliant people who might even want to guide and mentor you. They’re probably doing work, and you can too. So let’s face it: in this setting, Facebook is not the move. Alas, what is?

The Intern Perspective

Before you complain about that day where your boss forgot to assign you anything, consider this horror story: I once had an internship where I didn’t get access to a computer until three weeks in. The position required a government security clearance that took much longer than expected based on some mix-up, and until the issue could be resolved, I couldn’t touch a single computer. The tech-reliant company didn’t know what to do with me. So for the better part of a month, I sat at an empty desk with nothing but a stack of financial reports to keep me occupied.

What did I do without a lick of technology, you may ask?

Well, I’m not a saint. At twenty years old, I could not possibly have sat there for sixteen working days with only the thrilling literature on mortgage-backed securities to keep me going. I developed an arsenal of tricks, the most productive of which being Kindle for iPhone which allowed me to read the better part of a Game of Thrones book. But I also learned a lot about legitimate ways to stay busy, which is probably more valuable to you.

How to Look and Feel Productive

1. Meet with interesting employees. There are usually a lot of employees at work who you don’t get to directly interact with on a day-to-day basis, but who may have fascinating and important jobs. Even though they may be busy, most people like to talk about their work and to help motivated students. Larger companies may have a company-wide address-book (usually through the company’s email software) that lists office location, job title, and email, and some will have an organizational chart online. These can be great resources to meet new people. Remember: the people you contact don’t necessarily have to be in your exact field. I have a casual side-interest in video production, and had a great time chatting with some employees in computer-lacking-job’s tech department. These connections can help fill up your empty hours at work, and can be important resources for the future.
2. Brainstorm new projects. You know your skills best, and after a few weeks of work you’ll start to know the company pretty well too. How can you add value? Are there any projects past interns have abandoned? Any areas your boss has been too busy to pay attention to? Try spending some time thinking up new, helpful projects that you can pitch to your boss.
3. Work for Others. If your boss really, truly has nothing for you to do, see if there are any other employees in your department for whom you can do a spare project or two. Be sure to pitch this very carefully to your boss: you’re not running off to another department, but taking on small side projects in that area. If your boss often works with another employee or department, supports the idea of you staying busy, and you approach her in the right way, this setup could work for you.
4. Attend local events. Most medium-to-large sized cities will have speakers, events, and conferences all summer long (or all-year round, depending on when you’re working). Look for academic or career-related events that don’t exceed 2-3 hours and ask permission to attend. You’ll get out of the office and maybe even learn something.
5. “Memorable grunt-work.” Okay, I know, you’re going to hate me for even suggesting this. You’re a bright, motivated college student – why should you have to clear out the grimy office fridge? The short answer is you don’t. It’s probably not in your job description. But with tasks that absolutely no one else wants to do, you get major brownie points for getting it done. That makes you memorable. Everyone will heave a sigh of relief and think, “Thank God Ted cleaned out the fridge; it was a nightmare.”

And, if all else fails and you still have absolutely nothing left with which to entertain yourself, at least look busy while you do other things. Set out a few papers/documents on your workstation (close enough to you to look like you’re reading them, and organized enough so you look busy but not messy) and hit up Candy Crush. But really… give networking a try first.

The Boss Perspective

As the boss of a new summer intern, I have always eagerly anticipated my intern’s arrival. And each time, I thought I had generated a sufficient number of projects to last well beyond the length of the internship. Yet occasionally, to my great surprise, the projects took some of my interns a fraction of the time to complete and then they were ready for more work. I was left a bit flat-footed looking for meaningful and interesting work that could be completed by someone with his or her skill set in the time available for the internship.

I am sure most of my interns never quite understood my thought process in assigning work. I am fundamentally opposed to busy work, so I tried to make work assignments that absolutely had to be done either by myself or by one of my staff members, whether or not we had an intern. I also wanted it to be a developmental experience where the intern left my employ with more knowledge and skills than he or she had at the beginning of the experience. Thinking of these kinds of assignments in the high-level, specialized environment in which we work is no easy task. Moreover, having to come up with a new assignment a mere two weeks after the intern arrives is a bit daunting and off-putting, and something I did not expect to do for another week or so, by which time I would also have a better sense of how much the intern could handle working independently. So the realization that my intern has no work to do and is quite bored is, rightly or wrongly, both concerning and a bit annoying. At this point, it often becomes productive to introduce the concept of pacing to my intern.

What is pacing in the world of work? Pacing is making an assignment last for approximately the amount of time your boss expects is required for completion. For example, if I give my intern an assignment and indicate I expect it to take two to three weeks, I neither expect nor want it in a week because I too am pacing my work and want it closer to when I am ready for it. Nor have I built in time to think about and organize a new intern assignment during that time. Therefore, proper pacing would have my intern complete and submit the completed assignment in two to two-and-a half weeks at the earliest. And what does my intern do with the extra time she has from early completion of the project? Either look for ways to further enhance the quality and completeness of the assignment or approach me with suggestions of other projects she might complete based on her knowledge of the department. Key here are the suggestions of possible projects versus requests for new assignments. In the former situation, I merely have to say yes or no to proposed assignments–something quite easy for me. The latter requires more work on my part, just when I may be already inundated with my own projects. Alternatively, my intern may elect to help a fellow intern or one of my other staff members who may need resources on a hot project with a quick due date. Helping fellow team members is always appreciated.

You may have noticed from my comments above that I consider finding something helpful to do when you run out of work as a joint boss/intern problem–one that can be solved by either party. Big, big bonus points accrue to the intern who uses initiative to find additional assignments to complete that both keep her busy and add value to the department–thereby earning her MVP status!

Refer to the summary-view (below) of the tips above on those extra-boring days.

Good luck!

APW & NW

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