Staring at screens, legions and a million other things

There are only so many things you can do while seated in a desk at a computer and clearly visible to coworkers that can still be made to look like something you should be getting paid for. Online games involve too high a ratio of clicking to typing. Reading the news takes a lot of scrolling and often results in a look of intense concentration - a clear give-away. Shopping can require referencing credit cards, or pop-up ads that loudly declare "Congratulations! You're a winner!" over workplace speakers.

...And I have discovered through awkward personal experience that workspace exercises can look inappropriate in umpteen ways should someone pop in to make copies at an inopportune moment.

For how much effort people put into appearing stressed out, overworked and just busy and important in general, I have my suspicions that I'm not the only office worker who ends up staring at a screen for extended periods contemplating which route of distraction is the safest bet. There are lulls in any job, especially entry-level ones where bosses often are busy and important and thus unable to pass off a steady work load. Or just completely unaware of how long it actually takes to do certain things they haven't done since they hired other people to do them.

There is probably a legion of us who could write novels, book venues, educate ourselves on international affairs, run online stores, and do a million other things in between the 10 or so we do for work. Or, you know, we could just listen to every song Pandora has rights to play, master Spider Solitaire, plan 100s of vacations we don't have the money to actually take and lead on 100s of people on EHarmony we'll never actually date.

Gotta fill the hours with something.