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Programming IT Technology

Workplace Monotony? 109

Posted by Cliff from the desperately-seeking-stimuli dept.
bcorrigan78 asks: "I love programming, however I work in a network operations center with very few co-workers where the air conditioners can just about put you to sleep. Besides music, what do all of you programmers do to avoid workplace monotony?"
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Workplace Monotony? More

Workplace Monotony?

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  • Slashdot? (Score:5, Funny)

    by djcapelis ( 587616 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:33AM (#9747932) Homepage
    I see you've picked up on one of them... post here!

    • Re:Slashdot? (Score:3, Funny)

      by saden1 ( 581102 )
      I saw my CTO jamming to some Rap couple of months ago and he's in is late 40ies. I don't know what, but he was doing something with his hands too. Bobbing and weaving them all over the place. I think he was dancing with his hands.

  • Books On CD (Score:4, Interesting)

    by wbav ( 223901 ) <Guardian.Bob+Slashdot@gmail.com> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:34AM (#9747936) Homepage Journal
    I get more reading done during work than any other time of the day.

    And you can get them from your local public library.

    I recomend this cd player [amazon.com]

  • Get up.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by neep ( 160155 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:34AM (#9747953)
    Seriously, make it a point to periodically get up from your desk, for whatever reason - get something to drink, hit the restroom, actually talk to a co-worker (as opposed to email/phone/IM). Just the act of getting out of your cube for 3-5 minutes can do wonders for you.

    • Re:Get up.... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:34AM (#9748748)
      nonono - do not leave your cube! Disaster will strike if you leave your cube! Under no circumstances are you to abandon your cube!
    • See I read this a little too quick. Missed a bit:
      get something to drink, hit ... a co-worker
      Which would be understandable if you worked in a place that had a bar. Or the WWE...
    • absolutely. i drink way more coffee than is good for me, not because i'm tired but because if i don't move my damned butt, i won't be productive anymore. i've come this close to taking up smoking just to get myself outside. welcome to ADD america, i guess. if you have an office, small though it might be, doing a few push-ups or sit-ups will also get you going again, and it's a little thing you can do to improve your general state of health.

  • ummm.... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Ummagumma ( 137757 )
    .....slashdot? :)

  • Coffee! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Per Wigren ( 5315 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:35AM (#9747969) Homepage
    Hard industrial music, lots and lots of black coffee and cigarettes.
  • the subject there says it all basically.

    Welcome to the real world, where alot of stuff kinda sucks.

  • My "ToDo" list (Score:5, Interesting)

    by (trb001) ( 224998 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:39AM (#9748006) Homepage
    1) Listen to DVDs...I find it's more interesting than music and not more intrusive. I minimize them and just listen to the sound, flipping over for the good parts.

    2) Write code. Ever wanted to learn a graphics library? New language? Check out SDL [libsdl.org], neat little cross platform graphics library. Write a PacMan clone to learn it.

    3) Read news. I read a lot of news during the slow times.

    4) Gameboy. The SP is pretty small, would probably go unnoticed or be mistaken for a PDA.

    --trb

  • Firewall (Score:4, Funny)

    by managementboy ( 223451 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:41AM (#9748030) Homepage
    Try to work arround your company firewall... its MS stuff and its fun to see how our IT thinks some things can't be done.

    • Re:Firewall (Score:3, Insightful)

      by philos ( 21381 )
      What a great way to end the monotony - get fired! Don't mess with the network security, or be forced to say "I used to have a job."

      Some of the more harmless suggestions:
      - Listen to audiobooks. iTunes has a great selection. For geeks on a budget, so does your local library.
      - There are lots of ways to amuse yourself with toys from Thinkgeek. Try a tank battle. :)
      - Study for industry certifications. It might be your best chance to get a less monotonous job.
      - Practice Yoga or T'ai Chi Ch'uan. It'll keep
  • Naps. Ping-pong. Slashdot. Ebay.

  • Solutions (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DiscoOnTheSide ( 544139 ) <ajfili&eden,rutgers,edu> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:56AM (#9748235) Homepage
    I currently have the same problem as you. I VNC into my box at home and do stuff. Browse torrent sites, etc... I also run a radio station for everyone in the department (Computing Services for my university) and people making requests and such make things interesting (don't have that one... hmmm, lemme find it and throw it on the playlist) AIM keeps things interesting, as does sites like MySpace, Orkut, and even LiveJournal. Slashdot, fark, and others keep me sane. an occasional game of solitaire, stepping outside for a cigerette (a vanilla clove is excellent for killing stress, I have to say), Other projects you have more interest in: I'm currently in the process of learning PHP so I may make my own dynamic site for my photography... that and working on a short story that gets less and less "short" by the week... Online photoshop contests are fun too :)

  • A Wide Variety (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Jinsaku ( 729938 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @09:59AM (#9748274)
    1) I know you mentioned "besides music", but that really is one of the best ways. One thing I've noticed is that, being a programmer, *really* hard industrial really helps me get into "the zone" while coding, and trance just makes the hours fly by. Apoptygma Berserk, VNV Nation, Oakenfold, etc.

    2) Get a laptop, watch DVDs or music videos on it while working. I did this for years in my younger years. Helps boredom, but not the greatest for productivity.

    3) Someone brought this up before, and it's an awesome time-suck. Learn a new language/technology.. expand your knowledgebase. Employers generally encourage this (in my experience).

    4) If all else fails, and the job is just insanely boring, the company won't let you listen to music, watch DVDs, research new fields, read news, whatnot.. find yourself another job. I had this happen once a few years back with a job they sold me as a dev position, and turned out to be configuration management. After 3 months of total boredom, I moved to another job.

    Hope that helps!

    -- Jinsaku
    • In addition to Apop, and VNV.. I find Assemblage 23 , Psyche, and some Covenant songs to work quite well. I still listen to my Ministry of Sound CDs religiously (Australia 2003 I believe)..

      But you said 'trance'.. Infected Mushroom, Astral Projection.. That's where my work hours are spent most.

  • Juggle (Score:5, Interesting)

    by oojah ( 113006 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:01AM (#9748309) Homepage
    I work on my juggling for a few minutes here and there. It means I have to stand up and move around which has to be a good thing.

    My five ball cascade is improving too :)

    Cheers,

    Roger
  • I like to play a [www.play.vg] game [galaxisonline.com] sometimes. And for the rest... trying random words in google, and see where it will get me.
    Oh... I also work sometimes :)

  • Suggestions (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jtheory ( 626492 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:06AM (#9748382) Homepage Journal
    Well, you've clearly found one outlet...

    Other ideas:
    * Eat lunch out. You don't even have to eat in a restaurant every day (which isn't particularly healthy/cheap) -- you can bring lunch and meet friends at a park. The point is to get some solid social interaction in the middle of the day.

    * Take mental breaks. Don't always go from work to a game, or even ranting on /. -- take a few minutes to let the clutch slip and relax your focus. Walk around a bit, decide what to do in the evening when you get home, etc.

    * Stay hydrated, and don't eat a big lunch. And get enough sleep at night. You'll get more work done while your working, and more fun done when you're taking a break. You know dehydration is a pretty common cause of sleepiness, right? Of course, not getting enough sleep is also a major cause. If you aren't fighting off sleep, you'll be able to get more involved in your work (and thus less bored), plus you'll get more done, and have more time you can spend doing other stuff without swamping your productivity.
  • (No need to get away from the computer)

    Q3
    Worms Armageddon
    H4X0RING the company network (NetSaint, nmap, etc)

    (Some minutes off)

    Snooker!
    Card games!

  • Listen to old time radio shows (OTR). They offer drama and excitement, and you don't have to take your eyes off the screen. You can download MP3 of shows from many places.

    I find it is great when coding, but not as good when reading text like emails.

  • A one-step plan ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vrai ( 521708 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:20AM (#9748550)
    1. Get a job that you enjoy doing

    If you're finding your workdays consistently boring then you're in the wrong job. Find one that's more suited to your interests.

  • I think ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Brahgam ( 774597 ) <amoyano@iu[ ]du.ar ['a.e' in gap]> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:24AM (#9748593)
    Half a bottle of good Scotch every morning before work is your solution of routine. You won't get much work done and you might even get fired, loose your family, and sell your car and house to buy alcohol, but hey!, no routine there!
  • Where I work they don't believe in letting down the pressure...
    Whenever I have a free moment, something suddently needs to be done.

    Give me some monotony - I know what to do with it!
    Enjoy it while you still can.
  • 1.warriors2.com is my favorite. 2.comics pvp gamespy humor.

  • Remember... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Eneff ( 96967 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @10:56AM (#9749049)
    Employment can be a subsidized education. Take advantage of the free time.

    Of course, barring that, find a bunch of smaller message boards and alternately check them. You can even be a rabid republican on one and a bleeding heart democrat on another.

  • A few suggestions (Score:5, Insightful)

    by der_joachim ( 590045 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @11:02AM (#9749144) Homepage
    Here's some suggestions I have not yet encountered in this thread:

    - Go out during lunchtime. You will get some fresh air.
    - Even better: if your office has a shower (in the Netherlands, this is required for large companies), you can do some sports during lunch breaks. I used to run 5 miles twice a week in the afternoon. It kept me awake during long, boring work days. Afterwards, you *do* need the shower. Otherwise your colleagues will complain. :-)
    - If possible, ask your boss for something else to do. Help your colleague with *his* project for an hour or so. It will shift your attention for a while. Less boredom. Works for me.


    der Joachim

  • Lockpicking (Score:5, Interesting)

    by skreuzer ( 613775 ) <skreuzer&metawire,org> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @11:03AM (#9749163) Homepage
    I always carry around my pick set and a masterlock. When things get slow at the office, and when I am sitting on the train to and from work I practice the fine art of bypassing locks.
  • There's an online poker site I play (with play money) that has a nice alert sounds when it's my turn to play. I play it in the background while coding, and flip back to it every time I hear the alert. It somehow keeps me relatively sane.

    • Once you get good enough, find a poker site that has the "Freeroll" tourneys. That way you can play poker for free while you work and actually have a shot at winning real money. Granted, there are going to be competitors who are completely focused on the game. When you're at a table with these diehards, your odds of winning decrease significantly. Nevertheless, I've found that even if I sign up for a freeroll poker tourney with 3000 other people and I just sit there and let the computer check/fold every han
  • A little of this:

    http://kingdomofloathing.com

    Coffee and this in the morning and you're good to go.

  • Red Stapler....

    Seriously if your workplace is boring, find a few cube gadgets to keep you amused. Find people online to chat with (meet a girl online if you're single even...) if you have Internet access and the right to bring stuff in from home to your cube, I fail to see the overall problem. Or just post on Slashdot regularly, that helps me a lot :-)
  • I see we've touched on all the main ones. A good mp3 player, audiobooks, reading news, slashdot, learning new languages (I've gained 3 new ones in my current job). If it get's to the point where all of the above aren't helping, I suggest you start job searching becuase your current employment isn't furthering your career.

  • Plan other tasks on a timed interval schedule. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by moorley ( 69393 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @11:18AM (#9749368)
    Make up a list of other things you want to do. Here are some thoughts:

    Email an old friend.
    Add something to your website.
    Research a weekend trip.
    Check out a new gadget via web research.
    Read some trade/industrial websites in your field.
    Research something of interest to you, your hobbies or a potential interest.

    Then when you have that list, just every 20-30 minutes (or whatever interval) switch over to one of those tasks for 5-10 minutes, and then switch back to your work tasks. The day will go *MUCH* faster.

    If the job is really that bad I would work on tasks or accomplishments that move you to a different position, whatever that may be but it's your list. It will be like giving you positive feedback at regular intervals. The drudgery should just slide by.

    Hope that helps!

  • Unit testing (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dubl-u ( 51156 ) * <2523987012@pota . t o> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @12:09PM (#9750088)
    A few years back, the hype surrounding Extreme Programming got me curious, so I tried the style of development known as Test-Driven Development. It makes development less frustrating and more fun, so I'm a lot less likely to wander off to places like Slashdot.

    Basically, the way it works is you sit down, figure out what you're going to do next, and write a few line of test code that don't pass yet. You write a little code to make the test pass. Then you expand the test a little, and make that pass. And so on. There are two main rules: don't write production code without a broken test, and try to keep the time between cycles pretty short, say under 10 minutes.

    The short cycles and alternating viewpoints make it feel something like playing chess against yourself. Since everything you write is tested, bug rates are very low, and using the debugger becomes very rare. And although I thought my code was pretty good before, I think it's better now. By starting out thinking how it looks on the outside, the APIs are cleaner and easier to use.

  • Darts (Score:3, Funny)

    by cpt_rhetoric ( 740663 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @12:15PM (#9750126)
    Create little homemade darts using just office supplies and see how many I can get to stick in the ceiling.

  • Clarify your question? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by michael_cain ( 66650 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @02:12PM (#9750996) Journal
    I love programming, however I work in a network operations center... what do all of you programmers do to avoid workplace monotony?

    Your question here seems to be very poorly structured, and the range of answers people are giving reflect that. Many of the suggestions (read, watch DVDs) assume that the problem is that too much of the time the job is merely to be physically present. If what you need is an answer to how to fill up the idle hours, and you love to program, I'd suggest that no NOC I've ever seen has all the tools that it really needs. Consider what kinds of tools would make your job easier when problems occur (or tools that can analysis the available data and identify potential problems before they occur) and write them.

    If your problem is that you're already programming and you've got plenty to do, but there's no "human contact" in the way the job is done, try to add some. It might be as simple as adding informal design reviews -- "Hey, Bob, can we get together for 30 minutes on Tuesday so I can describe how I'm structuring this, and get your opinion about it?" When I had programming tasks, I always found that having such reviews sometimes led to people pointing out better ways to do a task, and always clarified my own thinking about what I was doing.

  • Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @02:20PM (#9751112)
    1. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

    2. Send e-mail to the rest of the company telling them exactly what you're doing. For example: "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom."

    3. Every time someone asks you to do something, anything, ask them if they want fries with that.

    4. Put your trash can on your desk. Label it "IN."

    5. Make up nicknames for all your coworkers and refer to them only by these names. "That's a good point, Spike." "No, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Sparky."

    6. High-light your shoes. Tell people you haven't lost them as much since you did this.

    7. While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in Palmolive liquid. Call everyone Madge.

    8. Hang mosquito netting around your cubicle. When you emerge to get coffee or a printout or whatever, slap yourself randomly the whole way.

    9. Put a chair facing a printer. Sit there all day and tell people you're waiting for your document.

    10. Send e-mail back and forth to yourself engaging yourself in an intellectual debate. Forward the mail to a co-worker and ask her to settle the disagreement.

    11. Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair-dancing.

    12. Feign an unnatural and hysterical fear of staplers.

    13. Send e-mail messages saying there's free pizza or donuts or cake in the lunchroom. When people drift back to work complaining that they found none, lean back, pat your stomach and say, "Oh, you've got to be faster than that."

    14. Put decaf in the coffeemaker for three weeks. Once everyone has withdrawn from caffeine addiction, switch to espresso.

    15. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after you boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is of a different gender than you.)

  • Another AskGoogle Question... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Run one lap around the office at top speed.

    Groan out loud in the toilet cubicle (at least one other) 'non-player' must be in the toilet at the time).

    Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.

    Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say "Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye".

    To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.

    When someone hands you a piece of paper, finger it, and whisper huskily,"Mmmmmmm, that feels soooooo
  • Play chicken with the fire alarm. Start small fires and see how long you can let them burn before the alarm goes off. Note: This is not recommended in halon-protected facilities.

  • Workplace monotony (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Suggest that beer be put in the soda machine.

    Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair dancing.

    Determine how many cups of coffee is "too many."

    Develop an unnatural fear of staplers.

    For a relaxing break, get away from it all with a mask and snorkel in the fish tank. If no one notices, take out your snorkel and see how many you can catch in your mouth.

    Send e-mail messages saying free pizza, free donuts etc... in the lunchroom, when people complain that there was none... Just le

  • Probably a less popular answer but.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sevn ( 12012 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @02:38PM (#9751348) Homepage Journal
    Find work things to do. You are being paid to work. Revisit some things you've already done to see if you can make them better. Identify problems and draft proposals. Get motivated. Help a co-worker with a project they are working on. Read up on the company. How it's doing. Identify waste. Check your machines out to make sure they are patched correctly. Concentrate on a new programming language or research a new technology that can help you get a raise or promotion. Treat work like the ultimate competitive game. Learn the game well. Worst case, if you REALLY can't find something to do, ask your boss for something to do. They rock at handing out work.
    • And here's the crazy thing about working: If you actually go to the trouble of selecting a job that is within your skill set, you can actually do things that make your employer more money (Hint: If your company makes more money and they have you to thank for it, then you make more money too!).

      Caution: The more 'innovative' your new money-maker is, the more you'll want to have proved the concept before you announce it.

      I know this all sounds like corporate-drone, party-line drivel, but finding engaging thi

  • Workplace fun (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Hi-lite" your shoes. Tell people that you haven't lost your shoes since you did this.

    While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in "Palmolive".

    Put up mosquito netting around your cubicle.

    Arrive at a meeting late, say you're sorry, but you didn't have time for lunch, so you're going to be nibbling during the meeting.
    During the meeting eat five entire raw potatoes.

    Insist that your e-mail address be "zena_goddess_of_fire@companyname.com"

    Decorate your office with pictures of Cindy Brady and Danny Partr

  • Pr0n! (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by Bob Cat - NYMPHS ( 313647 )
    Please do not mod up this obvious reply. Thank you.
  • Buy a little TV capture card from Hauppage with FM capability like this one [hauppage.com]. Plug it into your linux box and use xawtv [bytesex.org]'s streamer application to record Loveline every night (or whatever your favorite radio show is). Then use lame [sourceforge.net] to convert that to MP3.

    Then, listen at work. I've been doing this for years. Its not great for productivity, but it keeps you from getting bored and getting even more off task.

    Yet another place where linux rules for simplicity and functionality! The box doing this is a PII/3
  • I often listen to talk radio during the day. It's ritalin for the other half of my consciousness that likes to meander about while I'm doing stuff that doesn't require total concentration.

    I generally only listen to WSB out of Atlanta for Neal Boortz [boortz.com] (a libertarian) in the morning (through 12 PM CST) and Sean Hannity in the afternoon (3-5 CST).

    Linux users:

    gxine mms://66.250.188.14/WSB_AM &

    After 5:00 I generally listen to our local NPR station to keep things balanced and interesting. :)

    If it's news

  • Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]'s "random page" link that can be a pretty good time sink. Also, our lab has a foosball table.

    -jim

  • Get some security cameras that let you see the outside world. Put up the satellite weather image [cnn.net]. Put up a display of Internet traffic worldwide. Keep CNN with captioning on a screen. This gives the impression you're on top of things.
  • I say go for it if you've got enough people to play, just make sure you're the top-hat (it's the best piece)....oh wait, I thought this thread was called "workplace monopoly". /humor

  • Write a book! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Pembers ( 250842 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @10:42AM (#9759517) Homepage

    From a distance, English text in a text editor looks (or can be made to look) very much like source code. Hammer out the words when you've nothing better to do, mail it to yourself at home, clean it up and send it off to a publisher. You too could be paid to write a best-seller!

    Of course, if there is an intellectual property rights agreement between you and your employer, you may find that they can fire you for doing this, or (worse) that the book's copyright belongs to them. If the book is successful, they might sue you for a share of the royalties.

    I'm writing a book in this manner. I use my own PDA for it, so the book is neither stored on nor passes through any computer that the company controls. I write only during my lunch hour and when I'm travelling to and from work (I commute by train), so I'm never writing when I'm supposed to be working.

  • Not necessarily together (although, that is amusing as well).

    I find that nerf guns work well not just for frustration, but for boredom as well... Especially if you have a good target at a decent distance -- whiteboards are particularly good, as you can draw various sized pictures to shoot at.

    If people take objection to guns, or the noise of the darts hitting targets, you can switch to shooting rubber bands.

    But I also keep a few 260Q [zoovy.com]s (the standard size for twisting balloons) on me, for those times I'm re
  • Having an open minded girlfriend who works near you is always a good choice.
  • I've smuggled a monkey into the office and trained him to do my job. Now I sit around all day with my feet up throwing him peanuts. hehe....it's fun!
  • A good game of Russian roulette can give you, on average, three really big endorphin boosts. That might be enough to get you through the day.

  • i'll be getting my coat then... adios

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