Top Ten Things to Do when You Have Something Else to Do

Don't tell me you never said it: "Just give me a deadline and I'll have it done". We love deadlines. Be it a paper, a report for your boss, or something that needs to be prepared for an event, we always need to know how much time we have to do it. It seems that we cannot work on our time expansion theory without knowing how much of it we need to expand. And yes, we don't need to master Einstein's relativity theory to know that time can be expanded... there is always time to do something else before getting right into action!

In honor of that fact, let me give you a quick introduction to my "top ten things to do when you have something else to do", in no particular order:

10. Check the refrigerator: What? You are at the office? Go for the vending machine. There is always a piece of food with your name on it, or a drink. A drive to the closest coffee shop is not out of the question, probably that will give you more time to reflect on your work.

9. Browse the news: Who reads the newspapers these days? You can access them directly online. Probably there was a news break in the last half hour that deserves your immediate attention. Even if it happened at the South Pole.

8. Go to the 'sacred room': Yes, you've been waiting the entire day for a few minutes of calm in a place where no one will interrupt. Probably you have Newsweek or Entertainment Weekly waiting for you there. It's hard to focus when nature calls.

7. Google: Should I say anything more? I'm sure there is something to be researched for your project, or something else... or just google your name one more time and see how many hits you get.

6. Read your e-mail: no new mail? Maybe this is a good time to go and review all those e-mails lying in the Spam folder. Who knows? Maybe you did win the lottery in Nigeria and you are wasting your time trying to come up with ideas for that 'now-unnecessary' job.

5. Play a video game: Nothing relaxes your tension more than 5 minutes of play... or 10. Are you finally ready to beat that 'almost-impossible' level?. If you play online consider a little more time, you need to be respectful of your online buddies.

4. Go to ESPN: This can be done on the TV, Radio or online, or all of the above. I'm sure there is a game that just finished in Australia, those crazy time zones, and needs to be checked out. Or maybe this is a good time to develop your strategy for your next fantasy league draft.

3. Call your better half: Probably she or he is busy too, but you never know. Still it will take a good chunk of minutes to explain to her/him why you are not doing what you are supposed to. No better half? There is always a relative waiting for your call.

2. Plan: Check the clock... how much time left? How many things need to be finished for the project to be ready? Let's see, if you spend 10 minutes in the presentation, 15 minutes in the paperwork... You can revisit this task every half an hour, which should give you another opportunity to do something else.

1. Rant: My favorite one. This is the part where you start reflecting about all the time that you have wasted. Probably you should have your task done already if you had started a few days back and not at the "last minute". The good thing about this one: your promise to do the next task as soon as you get it, and not wait until the deadline is close (you are getting good at fooling yourself).

As a good teacher, I'm always open to comments and suggestions. I cannot promise a new compilation based on your input soon (you know, I have so many things to do J ), but I will try.

Class dismissed!