What to do during all the downtime in the office? Time is going too slow...

Now that everyone is heading back into the offices (reluctantly) what do I do with all my downtime? As many know it's not uncommon for an analyst to not get their turns back and work for the day until later in the afternoon or evening.

Obviously WFH made this all a breeze...there was always at least some chore to do around the house if I didn't want to sit around watch TV, read, etc. Now that I've been back in the office, I find the days feel MUCH longer. 

I can't just go on WSO, Reddit, Youtube, or something either with all the eyes on me. Anything productive I would want to do otherwise is unrelated to the job as well.

I've actually had a RELATIVELY decent time as an analyst thus far, but since this RTO two weeks ago my interest in the job has really been harmed. Even when I would receive late turns to do into the night WFH, it felt fine because I had periods earlier in the day to do chores or get my shit together knowing I'll be in a crunch later on.

 Any recommendations on what to do? 

7 Comments
 

lol banking is such a wavy job, I literally did nothing yesterday except read through docs and adjust some logos and practically stopped working at 5 PM. Today I started at 10 AM and I'm still doing stuff.

 
Most Helpful

Reading financial news

Reading company website

Excel/Powerpoint training courses 

Ask around for old models and try to understand how the model was built and why the assumptions are what they are

Try to build said models from scratch to practice your Excel skills

Set up networking calls/meetings with other employees at the bank (obviously this only works if you know in advance the day will be slow)

You should also look into whether your firm has a partnership with an online course website like edX or Linkedin Learning. If so, you can pretty much take any classes that are somewhat business/finance related through those providers. I've done ones like "how to communicate effectively" which while it isn't really hardcore finance, it's related enough to a business/professional environment that a manager glancing over wouldn't care at all. If you get creative, it's hard to get bored. 

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