Six Things to Do While Your PC is Down at Work

If you are an office worker, you'll feel pretty useless without your PC. Obviously, you can't sit in your office chair and spin in circles while your PC is down. You've got to stay busy, look busy, and be engaged while you wait for a replacement computer or a repair.

1. Get Your PC Fixed. Unless you have a pressing meeting or work obligation, you need to get your PC running again. Your first job is to call your helpdesk and get your PC fixed or replaced. If you don't have a PC, you need to be on the phone getting a new one. See if your tech support people can provide a temporary or loaner PC.

2. Check Your E-Mail & Schedule. If you have a smart phone or a personal iPad, you may be able to check your e-mail via the web. Otherwise, see if you can find a co-worker who will let you use their internet access for checking your e-mail and schedule. In order to accomodate traveling staff and work-at-home employees, most large enterprises have mechanisms in place to check e-mail via the internet. If you can at least check your e-mail and schedule, you can be aware of meetings and management requests. Best of all, you can even schedule yourself for a meeting while your PC is down.

3. Participate in a Meeting. If your PC is down and their is nothing to do at your desk, the best thing you can do is grab a legal pad and a pen and go participate in a meeting. If you can schedule a meeting and a conference room to meet about ongoing work great, otherwise, try to meet one-on-one with a co-worker to make progress on a work task.

4. Meet Yourself. If you can find an existing meeting or schedule a meeting with others, you can always go off to a conference room and have your own meeting. You can quietly spread out papers, use the white board, and immerse yourself in the most difficult of work problems.

5. Organize your Desk. Time without a computer is a good time to stock up on traditional office supplies. Grab pens, pencils, papers, and Post-It notes and everything else you need to survive without your PC. If you can't use your computer, you can always use the time to get your workspace organized.

6. Write. Long, long, ago before the word processor, humans used to write using pen and paper. If a malfunctioning PC forces you return to these roots, you may be able to write a memo, plan a work activity, or make other progress using these crude traditional instruments.

If you find yourself without a PC, there are ways to keep busy and be productive while waiting for your IT support staff to return your computer to service.