I also have my first "real" job. I'm in an office doing marketing (which was surprising for me considering I was communications/political science in college).
The thing that's struck me the most, and maybe I'm nuts here, but the movie Office Space is SO true. Granted our budget was cut and we aren't doing anything right now that I'd be involved in for the most part, but I really don't have much to do. I always figured people in corporate America were super-busy. The more I talk to people, they keep telling me that they only really have maybe a couple of hours of work to do a day, and the rest of the time they slack. I feel like a total slacker most of the time, but it's because I've already done all the work I have to do. Usually I pass off my part and end up waiting on other people to give me their parts before I can do more. I could find busywork for myself, but I HATE busywork. My boss suggested taking time to learn more about the products, which is a great suggestion, except you can only do that for so long too.
Then there's my dad who tells me that there's one guy where he works who plays solitare all day, his boss knows he does this, but they don't have anything for him to do. Since he's not bothering anyone and looks busy most of the time, and gets his work done when needed, everyone's happy.
Like I said, if I have work to do, I'll do it for 8 hours straight if that's what it takes to get it done on time. But for the most part, I could get everything I need to do in a day done in like 15 minutes if I REALLY pushed it. Is this normal? How much serious work do other office employees do in an average day?
