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[Bilge Rat]

An issue has developed at my job and I really don't know what I should do for the best.

Basically my work is really boring. It mostly consists of analysing data and writing reports, but I am very thorough and can easily complete all my goals in the time provided. The atmosphere is quite relaxed and so I work when I need to work and relax when I don't. Since I can work quickly and there isn't all that much analysis to do in the first place I spend a lot of my time skiving. In a typical week I will spend maybe 10 hours working hard and the other 30 hours slacking off. This pace leaves me easily able to complete all my duties on time and to a high standard and allows me to relax the rest of the time.

Since I have so much free time I spend long periods messing around on the internet, posting here, answering questions on Yahoo Answers, reading Wikipedia or going through game guides. Anything I do has to be computer based since I am not officially allowed to be slacking off, but my boss acknowledges that I don't have much to do a lot of the time and he clearly isn't bothered as long as I get the work done. I am stuck at my desk for 8 hours a day (+ 0.5h lunch break but that feels pretty much the same) and if I wasn't keeping my brain occupied then I would go mental.

However, I was recently forced to move office. Some colleagues wanted to swap, and my boss decided that the three of us were all going to move into a different room with more people. I was dead against it from the start but my boss and my other colleague thought it was an awesome idea so I didn't have a choice.

The problem is that I have now ended up with a senior manager sitting in a room directly behind me. He is not directly part of my command structure but he is far more senior in the company that I am. I was hoping that he would not notice/care about my constant internet usage but apparently this is not the case. My boss has informed me that he has sent him an unofficial note saying that he thinks I am using my computer innappropriately. My boss was fine and admitted that I probably use it no more than a lot of other people here, but that in the future I had to be mindful that he could see me.

This means that in future I am not going to be able to pass my free time easily. I have long, long periods with nothing to do and so if I can't use the internet then I am going to end up having to stare at the wall all day. My boss doesn't want me constantly bugging him for something to do and there isn't enough work to go round anyway.

I'm not sure if I can continue with my job under these conditions. It sounds petty, but I just cannot cope with having long periods with absolutely nothing to do. I cope very badly with boredom and if I can't spend my free time at work on the internet then this is going to make my life even more miserable than it already is. I have never entirely been happy with this job - more because of the innactivity than the times when I am actually doing stuff - and so I could seriously consider resigning over this. However, I know that the job market is not doing well at the moment. I am not really that far removed from a new university graduate and I have picked up few skills from this specialised job that would transfer across to anything else.

I know a lot of people are stuggling for work at the moment so it feels wrong for me to just quit, but my mental state isn't all that stable in the first place and I worry that continuing under the new conditions could be seriously detrimental to my health. However - could I really cope with another job any better? I would probably end up hating a new job just as much as I hate my current one. And my financial position isn't all that stable if I cannot find new employment. I have a fair amount of savings but my outgoings are also pretty high so if I wasn't earning then I would start to go through the savings pretty fast. I couldn't afford to be without a job for long.

I really am not sure what to do here. Anyone got any advice?

[-Jay-]

Speak to your immediate boss. If he knows you only have 10 hours of actual work to do, ask him what he wants you to do for the other 30 hours and insist that 30 hours of pretending to work is simply not acceptable and will probably drive you insane.

[Tlix]

I think the answer to this is going to be no but can you not just turn your monitor round a bit or even your desk so the guy cant see whats on your computer?

[Bilge Rat]

I think the answer to this is going to be no but can you not just turn your monitor round a bit or even your desk so the guy cant see whats on your computer?

No, that was the first thing I tried to do when we moved up here. I shoved my monitor to the side of my desk and tilted it as much towards the wall as possible. However, the senior manager's room has a large window across the whole front side so there really isn't anywhere I can put the monitor where he can't see it. I had hoped that the nosy twat could just keep his eyes to himself but apparently he can't.

@Jay, I'm not really sure that my immediate manager can help. He can't give me more work because there isn't that much more (certainly not 40 hours a week worth). He can't tell the senior manager to look the other way since that guy is more senior than him. Besides, if it was widely known how little work I actually do then he may well decide that he can make me redundant - there is no financial pressure for him to do so but he might realise that he could get away with giving all my duties to my other colleague and so not have to deal with me.

[blagmasterg]

I think the answer to this is going to be no but can you not just turn your monitor round a bit or even your desk so the guy cant see whats on your computer?

No, that was the first thing I tried to do when we moved up here. I shoved my monitor to the side of my desk and tilted it as much towards the wall as possible. However, the senior manager's room has a large window across the whole front side so there really isn't anywhere I can put the monitor where he can't see it. I had hoped that the nosy twat could just keep his eyes to himself but apparently he can't.

@Jay, I'm not really sure that my immediate manager can help. He can't give me more work because there isn't that much more (certainly not 40 hours a week worth). He can't tell the senior manager to look the other way since that guy is more senior than him. Besides, if it was widely known how little work I actually do then he may well decide that he can make me redundant - there is no financial pressure for him to do so but he might realise that he could get away with giving all my duties to my other colleague and so not have to deal with me.

With the best will in the world, if your biggest issue is that you're bored because you don't have too much to do at work, in a job where they are happy to pay you what I guess is a pretty decent full time salary for what is effectively a part time job, then you should be counting your blessings.

Take a notebook in with you and start writing. Take a book and start reading. Use the time to think about positive changes you could make to your personal life. Life really isn't as bad as you seem to think....

[Bilge Rat]

I can't read or write because then it will be obvious to everyone that I am skiving. I will need to literally stare at the wall for hours on end if I have nothing to do and cannot use the internet.

I realise that I am lucky to have a job and not to be over-stressed but I cannot cope mentally with having to watch the clock tick by minute by minute, day by day, whilst I wish that I was somewhere else.

[mfnick]

then you should be counting your blessings.

Obviously never been in a job where you dont have to do much. Its nowhere near as good as it sounds. Imagine being as bored as youve ever been. The way every hour feels like 10hours. & then imagine having to go through that every day at work, where you dont want to be anyway. Is far from pleasant. Its almost always better to be busy at work. Or at least have enough to keep you ticking by.

Hate to say it Bilge, but id get looking for a new job. Wouldnt quit though without something in the pipeline. Sure its mentally destroying going through that everyday but at least you can actually live. Plus, faling into jobseekers allowance or benefits is a slippery slope & the longer you are out of work, the harder it will be to get a place to take you on.

[retro74]

What I would do is clear my internet history first. Then I'd constantly use the internet on sites that were related to my job, specifically ones that may make me better at it and improve my prospects of getting promoted.

Then when the boss called my usage into question I could point to my committment, he would look like a prat and wouldn't want to make the same mistake again.

Also you might just learn something before you become a skiver again (or you might get promoted - then you can go on the internet as much as you like)

[Bilge Rat]

My job is extremely specialised so I can't really study it or get better at it. I don't think promotion is an option either because there are really only four people in our little corner of the business and we are more-or-less a self-sufficient cell. I don't know enough about other parts of the company to be transferred and my boss would probably block such a move anyway because he needs me here. It would cause him serious problems if I was to quit but he doesn't have all that much authority himself so I don't see how he could resolve the situation.

[blagmasterg]

I can't read or write because then it will be obvious to everyone that I am skiving. I will need to literally stare at the wall for hours on end if I have nothing to do and cannot use the internet.

I realise that I am lucky to have a job and not to be over-stressed but I cannot cope mentally with having to watch the clock tick by minute by minute, day by day, whilst I wish that I was somewhere else.

How will people know that you're skiving if you're writing away industriously in a little notebook? You could be working out new ways to make the department better. You could be drafting new proposals for the management.

At the end of the day, I doubt very much that they want you to sit and stare at a wall for hours at a time, in fact I'd say that they'd be more likely to get rid of you if you do that.

And MFnick - I've had plenty of jobs where you spend hours being bored - I spent most of my childhood the same way and you can either moan about it and be all depressed or you can figure out ways to entertain yourself. I may be a totally sad bastard, but I am NEVER bored. I can entertain myself with no external stimuli for HOURS.

[Chimp]

Cut and paste an ebook into word/notepad. Hey presto - minimal internet use and something to do. Simples...

For the avoidance of doubt I don't actually advocate doing this etc etc...

[binaryRooster]

i did what i thought was an okay interview and a quite frankly abysmal test (it included a "deliberate mistake" which the management admitted afterwards was a bloody stupid idea) for an internal job and somehow managed to get it. It's not anything amazing but it's another meagre achievement for the cv. Yay etc.

[lesbianlulu]

I have two jobs - selfish I know

Work an admin job for a financial fim and also work as a hair stylist at the weekend.

[big mean bunny]

I work as an AV/IT Technician in a school, I support the performing arts as a theatre technician, am the Mac administrator for the schools imacs, make posters, film and edit performances, take photos as well as all the general I.T crap that occurs day to day and do classroom assistant, I also coach a few sports teams (football, Cricket, and golf) The money is pretty poor for the amount I contribute as education doesn't value non teaching staff however it is easily the most rewarding job I have ever had and the only job I have ever enjoyed, I occasionally work very long hours however I get time back in lieu. I have two offices too as we have two sites, so that looks good on my trump card!

[Bilge Rat]

Grtz Rooster

Also, thanks to everyone for the great advice regarding my problem. Discussing this here has definitely helped me organise my thoughts and decide the best course of action.

I spent a long time typing out a long, rambling description of my master plan, but then it occurred to me that posting the gory details on a public site would be somewhat imprudent to say the least, so I am afraid that I will have to keep it to myself for now. Unlikely as it is, I don't want this getting back to my overlords.

Basically I am staying where I am for the immediate future, but I am planning on some top-notch psychological manipulation in order to quit this job and still get an exemplary reference. Because ultimately I am an asshole. Still, the alternative is to continue being a doormat and keep on working in an under-stimulating job for not enough money. I may be a loser in most of the ways that count, but I think I can still do better than that.