Yes, it helped to have a 'boring' job while doing my Masters. All my school work was completed on my overnight shifts!

How about maybe doing an online course in something??

I'm so glad this thread exists. I always feel like a spoiled petty princess complaining about being bored at work since it's a luxury, but it gets so ridiculous sometimes. I work at a school and am scheduled to teach 4 classes a WEEK, and some weeks class is cancelled so I literally have nothing to do at work 8 hours a day for weeks at a time.

I am on Day 9 or 10 of consecutive work days with nothing to do. I drink so much liquid that I pee constantly all day. I take epic power walks at lunchtime. In desperate situations, I retreat to the English office and watch movies.

Today I brought my laptop and will spend most of the day making music playlists. Maybe even watch some cheeky Star Trek episodes.

LOL. I rush from one thing to the next at work, and there is never enough time to get it all done. Time could stop for the rest of the world for a year and that still wouldn't be enough time for me to get caught up! (I fantasize about that often actually, lol) I have trouble finding time to call the doctor, or the car repair place, or even EAT, etc.

It makes me wish I could be bored at work some days (my life would be so much more organized!), but then I remember what that's really like. It sucks, and I totally feel for you. You just run out of things to keep your mind occupied, and it makes you feel so tired and sluggish.

I definitely second the idea of taking an online class or something. If the class itself can't be done during work hours, as least you could do all the homework/studying during your downtime at work! Or what about something like Rosetta Stone (or a cheaper option)? You could spend the time learning a new language, and it would all be at your own pace with no deadlines (like you'd have with an actual class).

OMG. I feel your pain! I am a research study coordinator and very often, there's nothing for me to actually *coordinate*. It makes me feel like a freeloader. I used to make up stupid tasks for myself but I literally ran out of ideas. And the worst part is that when I do get work, I ration it so it actually lasts me and I feel like I'm doing something, but then I just feel lazy. When I have to schedule stuff (I did a ton of telephone interviews) I did it all back to back and it felt so good to be able to fill my days- but now I've run out again. LOL. My boss always says what a great job I'm doing and honestly I feel like a fraud because I feel like I'm accomplishing absolutely nothing! Plus she's never there, my "work" is unmonitored, no one ever asks for status updates, etc.

I would so much rather have busy, fast days than slow days. And I always feel like a little princess (as someone else on this thread said, lol) for complaining about this- because people always say something like "wow! how lucky!"

What do I do with my time.... 3fc.. find recipes.. plan menus... look for other jobs (lol), read random city info on craigslist, read the newspaper online, blog, read blogs, chat on gchat... listen to Pandora.. that's about it. I'm thinking about getting some books on tape and plugging in my earphones.. mostly because I still feel too pressured to "look busy" to read books at my desk. LOL