So you are at the Service Desk; STOP don’t say no more. I know how it feels and what you are going through. There maybe times when it’s really quiet and the boredom gets the better of you. Here are some things you can try to get past those boring hours.

I care for you guys and hence I have added two versions of it; Try the first part if you are so bored that you don’t care a toss bout your career and just want to get through the day. The second part is for my friends who are taking their time at the Service Desk as just a passing phase and want to make progress on their career ladder.

Things to Do when you are Bored at the Service desk \ Helpdesk

1. Pretend to talk to a virtual customer who reports a really critical incident and you pretend to resolve it in seconds. Make sure you speak out loud.
2. Call clients to conduct a customer satisfaction survey.
3. Write a biography of yourself titled “life in a doghouse”.
4. “Accidently” restart servers, this will make sure you get a lot of calls for the next hour.
5. Learn a programming language.
6. Learn a foreign language.
7. Learn the sign language.
8. Create your Helpdesk Dream Team.
9. Rebuild your pc.
10. Rebuild your team mate’s pc.
11. Recommend and conduct counselling session for your team mates.
12. Create your bucket list.
13. Create a funky screensaver.
14. Start your own spam mail and check how long it takes to circle back to you.
15. Clean your desk and take a picture.
16. Forward the above picture to your team and offer your cleaning services at a discounted price.
17. Forward the link to this blog to everyone you know.
18. Take a quick nap.
19. Update your facebook.
20. Write your own Blog on “Some more things to do when you are bored at the Service Desk”.
21. Print this list and start ticking off the ones you have already done.
22. Once you have completed all of above, apply for jobs.

Now if you are Serious About you Career and don’t want to be stuck at the Service Desk for ever then try the following during “down-time”.

1. Up skill yourself online. There are lot of free training sites available.
2. Learn how Level 2 support actually fixes the tickets that you have escalating to them: Open the tickets closed by them and check the resolution.
3. Learn \ Up skill on some soft skills like: Hosting effective meeting, facilitation, etc.
4. Go through the design documents of the Major applications in your environment and learn how systems operate.
5. Go for the free courses advertised in your organisation.
6. Check with your team mates to see if they need your assistance.
7. Conduct a knowledge share session where you teach your team mates on the skills that you are a champion of and in return they share theirs.
8. Get a mentor and set a career goal \ plan. Your mentor can be someone in your organisation whom you look up to.
9. Update your CV and get it reviewed by your mentor.
10. Write a blog on your views on current affair, technical review, IT systems, etc.
11. Have a catch up with your team leader \ manager and see where you are at, where you need to be and how you can get there.
12. Update your LinkedIn.
13. Meditate and organise your thoughts and focus your energy.
14. Train the users and get them to help themselves when it comes to reoccurring common issues.
15. Volunteer for new projects.

So the Choice is yours