Hardly Working

I don't know what people who worked in offices did before the internet. Even when I'm busy and extremely productive at work I maybe average about 4 hours of actual work done. On Monday when I came in I was in a horrible mood so I went straight to work, nose to the grindstone. 3 hours later I had finished all the work I could do for the day. I spent the rest of my 8 hours waiting by the phone like an abandoned prom date. In order to fight the debilitating disease that is office boredom I've come up with a list of things that should be a part of everyone's job even if they aren't:

1. Staying up to date on current news and politics.
Every day you should read at least 3 online newspapers, and a political blog or two if you feel so inclined. If you don't stay up to date; the terrorists will win. If you get really desperate you can engage in political "discussion" on message boards.

2. Reading up on music news and reviews.
Its important every day to find out the status of your favorite musician: touring, recording a new album, dead in an overdose, or has released a new album which only scored a 5.4 on Pitchfork's pretension scale (incidentally Richdork is a great parody of Pitchfork). I recommend Tiny Mix Tapes for all your music news.

3. Bettering yourself through the Arts.
There are numerous magazines (e.g. This is a Magazine) and websites (e.g. Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives) which are crammed full of art for the viewing. You can even visit a museum. I recommend Coudal's Online Museum of Online Museums both for the content and the sheer brilliance of the idea and name.

4. Learning something new every day.
My favorite method for this involves Wikipedia the ultimate, free, online encyclopedia. I especially recommend their random article function. Why choose what to learn about when you could have a computer choose for you? I learned about Harry Jenkins. As a bonus if you find that they don't have an article about something you know about you can add it. For example they shockingly have nothing about Nongqawuse so when I have the time I can write a biography of her.

Well that's it for me. Time to get back to work.

s.