my future job involves taking labor samples from point a to point b in a huge university campus involving several buildings and there is a ton of downtime: I often see my future coworkers playing on their phones, buying coffee several times a day, talking or smoking out of boredom.
There are moments when every laboratory wants you at once but even then they take it easy and a person cannot be at two places at the same time.
I don’t know if it’s really going to be this relaxed but it really looks so.
I was thinking loading my smartphone with books, find a quiet place and read, learn something.
Instead of smoking I could stretch and do some easy pilates and yoga.
there’s always going several times to the toilet to have a seat and relax with nobody pestering you.
I don’t reckon I could study something for college, write a book or poetry or learn a foreign language, as I couldn’t concentrate.
what do you do in your downtime when you’re lucky enough not to have a supervisor micromanaging you?
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Get some audio books / tts books / podcasts and craft away. You could even start etsy.
Easy to put away and clean crafts: crochet (amigurumi), knitting, needle felting, tatting, embroidery (cross stitch), hand sewing (English paper pieceing), sketching… There has to be more that I can’t recall… Macrame needs too much space.Chess puzzles
I like podcasts at work
I’m a fan of audiobooks, but it’s the same basic concept. I host an Audiobookshelf instance, so I always have something fresh to listen to if I finish my current book.
It’s nice because you can listen while doing menial tasks. It keeps you entertained, even while being productive. As long as you don’t actually need to interact with anyone, you’re fine.
Gutenberg.org and go to browse / random Do mundane things like make shopping lists… Look up recipes to cook for the weekend. Get a note taking app and organize lists of things you need to get to or want to get to. I use Google keep but there are a bunch. Research things you always wanted to.
Reading is always good, and waay better than scrolling. Audiobooks/podcasts are also cool and if you can’t fully commit yourself to writing maybe just jot down an outline to flesh out later
I was going to suggest reading but you already said it yourself. So just go with that. I think it’s one of the best uses of free time a human has.
Learn to program. Worked fantastic for me and my career. Shout out to the people paid fat checks who don’t give a fuck what their employees are doing.
Sometimes I play sudoku rather than doomscrolling.
I play different kinds of solitaire instead of doomscrolling
Chess on your phone. That’s what I do. Podcasts or audio books while on the move
buy an emulator (miyoo mini plus, if I could suggest one) and have fun!
Buy a Steam Deck and get into Skyrim or something?
You could look up paper airplane designs and try making some.
I can’t recommend getting an e-reader more. It’s so much nicer than staring at a backlit screen for extended periods of time.
Are they all alike, I mean can I go for a cheap one or what do you recommend?
As long as it’s got an e-ink screen, it’s already an upgrade vs reading on a phone or tablet.
I have a Kindle and love it, but if you don’t want to go with Amazon, I think Kobos are a solid option! The current best models are the Kindle Colorsoft and the Kobo Libra Colour, but they both have cheaper models as well.
I read an ebook. Mostly fantasy but I am reading some cosmic horror at the moment.
I’ve been through all of Brandon sanderson several times on my night shifts. Stormlight archive and mistborn eat up a lot of time without it being noticeable.
