Image courtesy HikingArtist

• Did not look at your to-do list
• Postponed tasks without reason
• Spent an unusual time at the water cooler
• Asking strange/weird/odd questions on the internet or surfed endlessly

Then, you are bored, officially. Yes, we have all had those days when work seems uninteresting, but you cannot take a day off. What do you then? You can try one of 3 things

1. Buckle up and try to turn around an unproductive day into a productive one

2. Get back your lost focus

3. You can do these 3 things (I love lists!)

1. Reconnect
2. Recreate
3. Rest
4. Review

Reconnect
There are those “long lost” friends or close relatives you were intending to call this week to see how they are doing. Call them now. You can also take this time to network on a personal level and send out a “hi, how are you doing?” email.

Recreate
Download and play an enjoyable computer game [a flash game perhaps, so that you don't have to install it].  Don’t get carried away, though

If computer games are not your cup of tea, you could read an e-book or go to the office library, if you have one. Choose something that is light and fun, otherwise, you will start hating that too.

Rest
Take a nap, if you have a nap room (as they do in some companies, especially Japan). Or simply close your eyes for a few minutes. Taking a mental break and slowly counting to thousand might also help.

Review
This may be a good time to think about the big picture – your family, your goals in life, direction in which your life is going, satisfaction etc. Don’t combine this with point 3 though – your nap may turn into a deep sleep.

For the folks doing GTD or its variants, this may also be a good time to look at that “someday” list.

The idea is not always to “motivate” yourself to work harder – sometimes it is better to acknowledge that there will be days when you are not simply upto it.

What do you on such rainy days at office? Let us know in the comments.