I might get enough downtime in a day to be boring, but split up too much to actually do any of those things. Like who tf is writing a novel between orders?

What’s wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone… and going home to enjoy your hobbies fully rested?

I tried doing these sorts of things and was punished for it. If I can’t find work to do, then the only thing I’m allowed to do is stand (not sit) at my station until something happens.

Doesn't keep my mind ocupado

I suppose it depends on a lot of things. My personal viewpoint is neurological. My brain and body dont work well in slow moving jobs, especially if they have surprise „hurry up and wait“ situations.

The other problem is that where I live you get fired if you read on the job, no matter if you dont have any work for 6 out of 8 hrs. You‘re supposed to get busy or at least look busy.

Thats why I usually work self employed. I can decide what to do with my time. I usually work a lot more than 8 hrs and I expect to be paid for the work I do, not the minimum required amount I am owed.

For me, waiting for the phone to ring was torture, because I could be interrupted at any time. It was draining and stressful. If you're actually able to relax, that's different.

I used to be bored at work as I had too much downtime, so I decided to just accept more duties. Was nice to be able to solve problems learn new things and it made the time go faster. But you just keep getting more and more work and responsibilities heaped on you for doing a good job, and absolutely nobody notices it until you start falling apart. Then all of a sudden people you’ve never heard of are ‘concerned’ about you. At this point I am burnt out and do even less work than when I was bored, but the difference is that it also drains me.

The lesson is to never try to work at or around full capacity. Don’t fall into the trap of being bored and deciding to take on more work.

I have a lot of downtime and I work from home. I gained weight. I nap more though. At times I have 4 hour stretches where I'm just on call so I take a nap with my phone on my chest. That or play video games.

I know work bad but if I don't keep busy, time crawls. Also, theoretically I would have bosses find me shittier jobs to do if I'm not engaged in the main thing I'm there to do.

I've never had a job that there was a lot of downtime except that time I worked for a landscaping company. My boss was chill and we smoked a ton of weed between jobs