Dear Ms. Theologian-I’m sitting around at work with nothing to do. I know there will be a lot to do later, but this is just a quiet time. Should I be telling my boss this and asking for suggestions of things I can do? I don’t really like being bored, but on the other hand, I don’t want to end up with more things permanently added to my list, making life more miserable in the too-busy times.

Dear Guilty –

You are asking if you have an moral responsibility to be doing something for every paid minute of your time.

Ms. Theologian posits that you are paid to be there in many cases for emergency use as well. (She is reminded of an archiver at a former job who stored files in between reading novels all day. He was eventually fired after he sold a plaque on ebay honoring a coworker that contained an egregious mispelling). Ms. Theologian misses him a little every once in a while.

If long periods of time elapse when you are doing nothing, then, yes, you should tell your boss. If short periods of time elapse in between projects or crises, no, please, for your well being, do not say a word. This is downtime. It’s not badtime. It’s just less hectic than a crisis and is known in some circles as “peace.” Use your time to reflect on your job, plan for your career future, address new and inovative approaches to the workplace.

Yours in down time,

Ms. Theologian