Slow Day at Work? Here’s How You Can Stay Productive

Congratulations! After weeks or even months of endless meetings and rounds of interviews, you have just sealed a major contract with prospective talents for a prominent organisation in the industry. During the critical period, you barely have enough time to eat lunch without being hurried by tight deadlines. On such ticking-time scenario, you have learnt to master the art of getting several tasks accomplished in one go.

But now, when the project is completed and the demand is decreasing, what should you do to remain equally productive? While you might need to slow your pace down a bit and probably take that much-deserved break, what is the best way to manage your extra hours during slow day at work?

For recruiters, having slow day once in awhile might come as a great privilege among busy days and hectic agendas. When you have been so used to fast-paced working style and organised plan, finding yourself in slow day can be boring and wearisome. That being said, it is crucial for you to take advantage of this extra time by doing something meaningful and staying productive.

Instead of using the downtime for scrolling down your social media or ordering stuffs you do not really need from online shop, here are several things you can do on slow day at work:

1.       Clear your desk

Are those ants crawling on your desk? Clean and tidy cubicle is not only comfortable to stay, but it will enhance creativity and boost productivity as well. Therefore, you should clear up your working space and get rid of the litter on and around your desk.

2.       Organise your emails

Now that you have the time, you should check your emails and sort out those thousand messages in your inbox. Take time to organise and move them into folders, such that you can find easily them when you need them urgently. You might need to delete any unrelated emails such as spams or junk mails, and archive the important ones.

3.       Make plans

Having spare time does not mean you can slack off. You can always use it to plan your next agenda and prepare in advance. Be it for the upcoming week or month, you should start writing a to-do list and make sure that everything is well-arranged. Evaluate your strategy to see if you need to improve or fix your current methods.

4.       Feed your mind

Lifelong learning is proven to be beneficial not only for your personal growth, but also for the organisation’s long-term sustainability. You can use your time during slow day to grab a book, learn new skills, and even take courses. What makes it even better, you do not have to spend a dime to feed your mind since there are copious learning materials available online.

5.       Build new networks

Slow day is a great time to seek and establish new networks. Networking with other professionals in the field will help you stay on top of things. Therefore, take this time to catch up and check in with former colleagues. You might want to go to career fairs, meet people, and connect with them.

Now it comes back to you, what do you usually do in your downtime? Share with us!