Sep 10 2007
The Essential Guide to Blogging at Work on the Sly
Most of us bloggers don’t make the kind of coin that makes it possible to do this full time. We have to trek into work every day to be able to pay the bills and, as a result, blogging becomes a part time gig done in our spare time. Well rejoice because it doesn’t have to be this way! If you you can manage to land a cushy office job for yourself then you will be able to blog at work on the sly with these super sneaky strategies:
- Use your time wisely - Save your work (the stuff you’re paid for) for when your boss and co-workers are in the office and and try to do your blogging when nobody is around. You’ll be able to relax a bit and won’t have to constantly be on your toes.
- Blog under cover - If being on the internet becomes too obvious, do your blogging in Word or Outlook and then copy and paste the text over at a more opportune moment. Working this way gives the added bonus of a spelling and grammar check.
- Make office-type noises - Sitting in silence for too long can cause suspicion so if you’re doing a lot of reading and things are starting to get a bit quiet, make sure you hammer at your keyboard a bit or rustle some papers around every now and then. Asking your boss if there’s anything they need done is good for added effect.
- Make lots of tea/coffee - Keep your boss sweet by offering to make tea. Bringing in donuts or cookies occasionally is also recommended. Be careful not to kiss too much ass so as to not raise suspicion.
- ALT -TAB switcheroo - Bosses can be known to spring on you with little or no warning. To counter surprise attacks, open up another screen (preferably something important looking like a spreadsheet) and follow these instructions: Hold down ALT… that’s right, do it with me now… and then press TAB and let go. Watch that screen change in an instant! Saves you from frantically clicking on the minimise button as your boss approaches. Super sneaky and an essential strategy for blogging at work so make sure you practice.
- Keep on top of your work - As much as I’d like to burn all of my filing and ‘accidentally’ misplace all of my data entry stuff, I can’t. Being able to get away with murder means being good at your job and get things done on time.
- Get a corner computer - If you’ve got a prime spot in the office so that nobody can see your screen then you’re in luck. If not, try to swap your way to the deepest, darkest corner of the office to be able to have a blogging free for all. Continuing to rustle papers every now and is still important, you don’t want to get too confident. If a secluded screen isn’t possible, make friends with the people who can see it so they don’t raise the alarm. See the point above on cookies and donuts.
Being a part-time blogger need not mean you have to lock yourself in your room on evenings and weekends tapping away frantically. Use these strategies and you’ll be blogging at work in no time! It also helps if you don’t have any work ethic and aren’t the guilty type.
WARNING: Do not, I repeat, do NOT under any circumstances go out for drinks with your boss and co-workers, get ridiculously trashed and drunkenly admit your evil plan to one and all. Very bad.
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go. 
LOL! These rules apply to chatting too, no?
I would add, though it probably falls under the ALT - TAB Switcheroo, using Command - H to hide your browser is a pretty quick fix to prying eyes.
Command - H? What is this magical key combination you speak of? What’s the ‘Command’ key? Is it near the ‘Any’ key?
I probably wouldn’t have been able to quit my job if I didn’t have the freedom to work on my sites while I was actually working in my last job. Having said that, because the job was so awful, it gave me the motivation to quit.
I also got an external ADSL line at my desk which I used for “testing” sites outside of the corporate network. Higly recommended if you can get it. You never know who could be looking at what sites you visit.
How about not wasting your employer’s money? If you truly want to go freelance, you need to build those relationships on your own time, not on that of your employer who happens to trust that you are doing what you are being paid for.
If there’s “nothing to do”, it’s your responsibility to the company that is employing you to think of something that will make them more profitable, more organized, or more ready to take on their competition. That’s what it means to be an employee of a company, otherwise you’re an employed reflection of the welfare state.
Let’s put it this way: If the tables were turned and you were paying out say $10-$12 per hour, every hour of every day for every employee, I suspect that you would want an optimal return on your investment. After all, that’s why you went into business, right? To pay a group of people less collective money than you charge other people to perform a net service? That’s not even mentioning costs associated with corporately funded or assisted health plans, federally mandated payment of social security by employers, ESOP discounts, or incidentals related to running an office: power, phone, IT, new computers, insurance, etc.
So for every hour that you’re _not_ working on your employer’s behalf, you’re wasting far more than your hourly wage.
And if you job just plain sucks? Quit. Become your own employer. Maybe eventually you’ll hire some employees and when they start wasting _your_ money, you might change your tune. But for all the time that you’re _not_ your own employer, you’re somebody else’s employee.
“But everyone does it,” you say. True. That still doesn’t change your responsibility to your employer.
Imagine the state of our economy if everyone who currently spent their work time downloading the most recent desktop wallpaper randomizing applications and newest silly mouse icons and reading blogs and news sites was actually _productive_ during those hours.
Finding ways to take advantage of an employer’s trust is not a fun game, and secrets of how to circumvent “the system” are not a commodity to be traded.
Remember, you were hired to perform a specific job. You were not hired to find clever ways to remain employed while doing as little work as possible.
Holy smokes, I’m amazed you took the time to write that essay. I must have hit a nerve. I guess all I can do is direct you to point six. Cheers for your comments though… I completely understand where you’re coming from but when there’s no work to do, there’s no work to do. Initiative? Pffft.
Kirsty - lol - some of your points cracked me up! I’ll keep some of the hints in mind, especially the Alt - Tab switcheroo.
I think it also depends on the size of the organization. If it was a small company I would feel bad about working on the side. If it is a big company that doesn’t care about you or your work and your job satisfaction, why not. At least you are doing something and I am sure there are plenty of others who waste time surfing the net, playing games and chatting.
Good Point. It seems to me that if you keep on top of everything you are required to do, maybe even a little more than you are required to do, and you end up having down time, what is the problem with doing personal work on the side? I don’t know about anyone else, but my brain starts to turn to mush if I don’t have anything to do and the day just drags on and on. As long as it does not interfere with the real reason that you are there at work.
If you feel guilty about doing personal stuff on company time, save it for during your lunch break, which technically is “your time”.
Heck, I worked at one company awhile back where the CFO, who was paid much more than I was to be sure, routinely spent time on the phone for personal matters, sometimes for lengthy periods of time. I knew because my office was nearby and the guy had a loud voice. I know the argument that everyone is doing it really does not hold water, but come on….
When I started my first blog, that has now been lost at sea with all hands, I was working at a library. Often there was truly nothing to do. Sometimes I would show initiative and dust off a few books but then I would usually be taking work from others. At times I was so bored I was close to tears, I’m certain I would have quit sooner had I not started that blog to pick at now and again, that or start drinking on the job.
Now when I think of it perhaps I should have quit sooner, better than getting drunk with the boss at a social event, telling him what you really thought of him and getting punched in the face. Also very bad.
Ya I’m the same. My brain goes mushy after too much brain dead work. I’ve been there for four years now so it’s almost 100% mush and needs a jolt every now and then.
I could be working somewhere more challenging and rewarding but I’m in London for a good time, not a long time and being able to do my own thing at work is the only reason I stay. Plus I quite like the environment.
I think getting drunk with bosses is asking for trouble. Always makes for good stories though!
ROTFL kirsty - totally agree regarding idiots that employ you with no work to do! Spent most of last year earning big hourly $ as a contractor with very little to do - including nothing for months. It gave me the motivation to a) quit the country and now start with the internet entrepreneur thing. If I need to get a real job again it wont be IT it will be something people actually need like a cleaner or a check out chick!
My office monitors every action and stuff we do and its not possible to steal the office time.
Some guys are lucky enough to get unmonitored office.
http://www.buzzsurf.com/surfatwork/