NOT IN THE mood for work this week? In the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday, who is? With the three-day break consuming your thoughts, your concentration is likely to drop and productivity plummet. But don't feel bad about being an occasional slacker. As most people know - but rarely admit - being idle is just part of the job.
If you are desk-bound in an office, goofing off may be difficult but not impossible. All it requires is that you are alert and have a contingency plan, according to sometime-slacker Mike Chan, an award-winning copywriter at a local advertising company. The quiet pre-Lunar New Year period has left the 27-year-old twiddling his thumbs, so to kill time he surfs the Internet, looking for anything that comes to mind: 'the ugliest people in the world', Anna Nicole Smith, and sites lampooning Hello Kitty and McDonald's.
To prevent being caught by his boss, who sits two paces away, Chan ensures he has several work-related files open on his desktop while he trawls cyberspace. So when he needs to - when his boss walks past to visit the loo, for instance - he clicks on the appropriate document and looks busy for as long as is necessary. Though he experienced pangs of guilt initially, Chan feels better these days because he knows he is not the only office deadbeat.
'I was glad I wasn't alone,' he says, explaining he recently discovered a colleague was up to the same tricks. 'Let's face it, we can't be focused on work all the time. You need a break but you're stuck in the office. So you have to be sneaky to while away time.'
Despite the pleasure to be derived from the Internet, sitting in front of a computer all day can affect one's health. So says Howard Li, who recommends wasting time outdoors. The research assistant at the Chinese University of Hong Kong suggests taking five minutes - or longer - for 'therapeutic' shopping, a cup of coffee, or even a bus trip. He practises what he preaches. After finishing a project last Monday, Li hopped on a cross-harbour bus from Sha Tin to Wong Chuk Han - a journey long enough for a satisfying nap.
'I told the professor I had to deliver some documents; it was one of those slow days when there was absolutely nothing to do,' he says. 'After the nap I felt alive, but I also felt guilty so I decided to work harder - after the Lunar New Year holiday.'