Then it hit me- I can do a lot of my "home" work here. (At this point, I need to point out that I have a very flexible employer who is excellent at work/life balance, and they don't care if we use the internet/phone etc for personal use as long as we get our actual work related work done. Your mileage may vary- be sure to know your employer and their policies!) Now I combine my home life and my work life quite well. Here's what I do from work when there's not much else to do or on my lunch break during busy times:
- Clip coupons and scan sale ads for good deals.
- Make menus and grocery lists
- Buy postage and arrange for carrier pickup from the post office website. Woo! One less trip for me to take after work!
- Write letters to friends and family.
- Put books that I want to read on hold via the library website- one five minute stop after work to pick up my already gathered up for me books.
- Research items that we may need to purchase. For example, I did a lot of my car research at work when we were looking for a new car.
There's a lot of stuff you can do with the internet and the phone. I called and had my Roth IRA start auto-deducting from my account every month so I no longer have write out a check and pay for a stamp. All it took was a phone call! There is so much you can take care of- I'm not even touching the tip of the iceberg here.
The feasibility of this may differ from person to person, or job to job. I've had jobs where we were pretty much not allowed to do anything non work related, even if it meant that we sat and stared at the wall when we were not busy. But if you are not in that kind of situation, use it!If you work outside the home: What "home" stuff do you do from work? How flexible is your employer regarding internet and phone use? If you do not have an office job where you have access to computers/phones all day, are there other home things you accomplish at work? Share in the comments!
More ideas here!
5 comments:
I love this post!! I am the same way at my job and try to accomplish all I can for home when it is slow!! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!
I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this. I search for coupons and deals on the internet almost all day. I'll make family monthly calendars, menus, shopping lists, pay bills, balance my checkbook...just about anything. There are some websites that are blocked and I have problem printing coupons sometimes.
I do this too, as long as I don't end up taking too much time at work to do my home stuff..it works well.
Fortunately, my current boss is easy going (my last boss wasn't) and during my down times I can use the internet for personal use (for recipe ideas, postage, shopping, etc.) I plan my meals and grocery lists too. I have a folder I carry with me that has our bills in it and on my lunch hour I can sit down and write the checks and get them ready to mail.
Well, I can't actually do that much home stuff at work, but I do take advantage of my job. I work in a library, so when I'm shelving books or checking them in I often find some to take home or to put in a hold request for. I also find good videos for weekends. (free!) my job has a perk--no late fines for library books. I use my lunch sometimes to run to nearby stores and run errands, there's a great hardware store near work and an aldi and home depot.. and 3 craft stores. :) I also make plans with a co-worker/garden buddy for things we can do on days off together. On very slow evenings if I scheduled in workroom I can sometimes use my cell to do some visiting between answering the library phone/checking in materials to visit with long distance loved ones too.
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