Sooo...*glances around office innocently, while whistling* Do any of you attempt to get any writing done at work? If so, do you have any sneaky writing-on-the-job tricks? ie, writing on a small notepad that you can ditch into your drawer quickly?
Sooo...*glances around office innocently, while whistling* Do any of you attempt to get any writing done at work? If so, do you have any sneaky writing-on-the-job tricks? ie, writing on a small notepad that you can ditch into your drawer quickly?
don't get caught?
I write in word, which is hardly a unique program to have open, but I also have an office. I loathe writing on paper, but a notepad is an option...although you trying to quick cram it in your desk like you got caught holding meth isn't gonna exactly be "below the radar."
anyway, I just write in Word, and write away. You could minimize likelihood of being seen by doing it during lunch, or first thing in the AM when folks are busiest, or late in the afternoon when they're leaving, or in fifteen-minute bursts so they don't wonder why your keyboard is going bonkers for an hour straight.
Is it really worth the risk of losing your job?
And not to be the uptight hard-ass (which I guess I am, alas), but aren't they paying you to work?
I know it's tempting to use some of the long, long workday, but it seems like a bad idea on multiple levels to do more than a quick jot on company time. During lunch and breaks, knock yourself out.
Where Mr. Maryn works, one discovery of writing on the job would probably get you major negative points on your employee evaluation. A second one, I doubt they'd keep you.
Maryn, honest day's work for pay
I take my laptop to work and write while on my lunch break.
That way, I don't use any corporate assets for my personal projects and I write off-the-clock, as it were.
We have kind of a loose "take breaks when you need to" policy here at work, because so much of what we do is repetitive. Most people spend that time doing schoolwork (a lot of grad students here), or on Facebook or texting, so I can definitely pull up a Google Doc and get to work. I do 90% of my work on Google Drive anyway; never have to keep track of which file is the newest or whatever.
I also have a Galaxy Note 2, so I can do some re-reading, editing, and swype-ing on my phone during breaks or even at my desk. Or *coff* in the loo. *shifty eyes*
My partner takes one of those ASUS tablets with the keyboard to work so he can do his writing/editing during his lunch and breaks.
ETA: This is not to say I'm always successful at work. It's often difficult for me to change gears from what I do all day, back to my characters.
At the risk of being a party-pooper, I concur with Maryn. Unless your boss specifically says, "do whatever you want to kill some time," you're being paid to work for them. If empty time opens up, you fill it in by taking on an additional chore, innovating, something that benefits the firm that pays your wage. If you're on break, lunch, etc., it's a different matter, but when on the clock it's their clock. Guess I'm old fashioned!
If you've got the green light to do your own stuff, that's a different matter. I used to know a guy who was in chat rooms for hours a day at work. He was a fireman. They didn't care what he was doing, so long as he dropped everything when the alarm sounded.
So, are you worried about your colleagues reading what you're writing, or about IT people accessing it, or both?
If it's the passerby reading over your shoulder that's got you cringing, consider rearranging your work space to face the opening rather than have your back to it. Not possible? Yeah, I was afraid of that. Then do what you can to make it difficult to read at a casual glance, and have a one-keystroke way to minimize it when you realize you've got a gawker. Consider tiny font size, or something with lots of swirls and loops, both damned near impossible to make out at a glance.
If it's IT, well, I would presume that if you're on their system, they have the means to see what you've been up to. If it's really personal or not appropriate, then you should be writing it by hand or on your own computer or other device.
Maryn, who wrote hard-core erotica with school-age kids hovering--it can be done
Depending on the company, some employment contracts specify that anything developed while at work (using company equipment, and/or during company time, and/or while representing the company, etc) is rightfully owned by the company. Copyrights and all. I've seen it more than once.Do any of you attempt to get any writing done at work? If so, do you have any sneaky writing-on-the-job tricks?