I listen to educational YouTube videos during work. We don't have down time but we have no supervisors on my shift. I can get my work done while listening to videos.
this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2025
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I do read, go for a Pokemon go walk, browse on my phone or listen to music when I get a break at work.
I once has a data entry job and got through a couple of audiobooks a week.
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.
Practice juggling. Buy 3 juggling balls (you know those bean bag types that don’t roll away), and keep them with you. Don’t use tennis balls, because they have a tendency to bounce and roll. When you have some downtime, start practicing. Watch a few video tutorials to get the hang of it.
If you can have a backpack with you, consider bringing a tablet with you. If you have one with a pen, you can draw. Watch a few more tutorials, and learn to draw something you like. Landscapes, portraits, fantasy dragons, pokemons whatever.
Tablets are also fine for reading ebooks. Check what your local library has to offer. Maybe you can borrow library books and read them on your tablet.
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 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.
How many times a day are you capable of beating off?
4
Man that's perfect, that's one at each break and a wild card for discretionary use.
Thanks for your continued support
Chess puzzles
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.
yeah, eBooks. I keep a few on my phone and just work my way through them during downtime. I use the ReadEra app on Android, and mostly read copyright free classics at the moment.
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.
Learn to program.
you probably missed this part:
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.
That’s fair. Oh well.
Sometimes I play sudoku rather than doomscrolling.
I play different kinds of solitaire instead of doomscrolling
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.
buy an emulator (miyoo mini plus, if I could suggest one) and have fun!
got hubs one because I couldn't afford a steam deck for his birthday. he loves it. I never see him play it at home (I think because the actual computer is here) but every once in a while he'll mention having played x or y retro game and he has covered the ENTIRE thing in Simpsons stickers.
Chess on your phone. That's what I do. Podcasts or audio books while on the move
Lichess is the best out there, and it is completely free.
I use both lichess and chess.com
I admit I play the bots on chess.com but for the rest I don't see a reason, but that's for me :-)
They have a pretty good analysis engine.
Ah, gotta check that out, thanks!
so you can study stuff and do coursework but you gotta make it really easy to do accidentally. when I got a paper to write I would make a google drive folder with the project outline and a template for the paper including a reference sheet. I would lazily look up sources occasionally and add the pdfs to the folder and easybib / citation machine them into the reference section by doi. at that point it would be a matter of when the paper would get written, not if. the dopamine would just hit suddenly when I'm having an IBS shit at 2am and "oops. I wrote a research paper." I accidentally wrote so many papers while shitting. one time I set all of it up and went to bed and turned out one of the group members was also ADHD because when I woke up she'd accidentally done the whole thing while I was asleep. 10/10 method.
Buy a Steam Deck and get into Skyrim or something?
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.
You could look up paper airplane designs and try making some.
Lmao
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?
Boox is best because it runs full android, dont lock yourself in to Amazon. Some folks prefer Supernote if writing us your focus, but if reading is your jam get Boox as you can read any format, download off of any site or app, sideboard and run f-droid, read the web, even use the fediverse. The screens are as good as you can get, and the software stays updated.
As a side note, check out the app Mihon if you like to read comics, the seas are open for sailing if you're that sort, or its just a great reader. Works great on Boox.
I was thinking about flashing a cheap one with some custom ROM if that exist in the ereader world, but Boox sounds like my kind of device, thanks!
Well, there are ways to jailbreak kindles and use third party software like this: https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Kindle-devices
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.
Stare.
Or the ol classic: If you got time to lean, you got time to clean.