Productive things to do when you’re bored at work

I recently started a new assignment at work, and so far it has been less than exciting. The work is way below my level, and the client has had trouble keeping up with assigning me tasks to fill my time. This has resulted in quite a bit of downtime at work for me recently. So what can you do that is productive when you just don’t have enough work to do? I’ll offer up a few of the things I have done over the last week to fill the downtime:

1. Continuing education courses – I’m lucky enough to work for a company that offers dozens of web-based training modules accessible to all employees. I figure if I’m going to be bored, I might as well get some CPE hours. I’ve also used a good bit of time over the last week to study for another certification exam. Passing the exam will not only look good on my resume, but will earn me a $1,000 bonus as well.
2. Paying bills – I’ll gather up the bills I get in the mail each evening and pay them online at work the next day.
3. Dealing with household issues – Got a nasty letter to write? Nothing looks more productive at work than typing and having Microsoft Word open on your monitor. I spent some time this past week writing an email to my homeowners association about another friggin’ deed restriction letter. This one is nice in tone, so I also went ahead and wrote a formal letter if the warm and fuzzy approach doesn’t work.
4. Educational web surfing – While the internet is the ultimate of work time wasters, it is a worthwhile use of time to surf sites where you can learn something to enrich your life. I like spending time surfing news sites and the personal finance blogs at PFBlogs.org. The forums over at Slickdeals and FatWallet can also alert you to great deals to save you money.
5. Blogging – Yup, there is a reason you’ve seen a bit of an up-tick in the postings here of late. More time allows for more blog postings, and the surfing of the blogs at PFBlogs.org provide a great deal of material to post about.

If you get really bored you can also try some of the following to kill some time:

1. Plan an App-O-Rama.
2. Balance your checkbook.
3. Estimate your taxes for the year.
4. Rebalance your retirement accounts.
5. Fill out rebate forms, or follow up on rebates that are late.
6. Take the time to email an old friend or co-worker you haven’t seen in a while.

Any other ideas? Share them here!