10 Things To Do With Some Extra Time at Work

If/when it slows down in agency land, cherish the opportunity to tackle some other projects

The agency where I work, Duncan Channon, just emerged from one of its busiest few months in the agency’s history. Eight major productions for eight clients in three months.

We anticipated a slower period after so much production front-loaded into the year. For us creative types, it can be weird when things slow down a bit and you find yourself with a little extra time, especially after running so hard, so fast, for so long.

Now, we didn’t think anybody would be sitting around twiddling their thumbs (and, in fact, there haven’t really been that many days of leisure) but we wanted to let people know that that if they did find themselves with some extra time before their next brief, they should enjoy it. Don’t feel guilty if you have a few hours or days that you can’t bill to the ol’ timesheet.

So I sent this out to the team…

Things I like to do when I have some extra time:

1. Pop out to a movie or a museum. Fill that creative well! Go get inspired by catching a matinee. Pop over to SFMOMA and wander around.
2. Catch up on those lunches. Have a friend that you couldn’t hang with during the grind of production the last few months? Make a lunch date. Invite somebody over to The Tip for a drink. I like to meet up with friends from other agencies and hear how things are going at their shop; it often helps put the stuff going here at DC in perspective.
3. Pick up those “some day” projects. We all have things on our “to do” list that are easy to put aside when the work gets busy. Now is the perfect time to pick them up. For example, a few of us have been talking about updates to our agency creds deck for six months — we’re going to roll up our sleeves and get that shit done. (Tip: make yourself your own project manager and set a deadline, otherwise you won’t do it.)
4. Update your book. No, we don’t want you to leave! But being a grown-up creative professional means taking time to invest in yourself; you need to keep your portfolio site up to date. Take pride in your work and the way you represent your creative life to the world. Oh, and help a sister/brother out, too! Writers, offer to help your designers/art director friends with their words. Art types, don’t let our writer’s portfolios look like they were designed by writers.
5. Side projects! I always like to have a few creative side projects that I can work on when I have down time. One year it was my nutty write-all-my-LinkedIn contacts, or the 97% conference Twitter feed, or a side film project…but having something that you can dip into and scratch that creative itch is important. I worked with a guy who launched his superstar rap career while he was working at the agency; put some muscle in your side hustle, friends. Finish that album! Write that screenplay! Start that Instagram account!
6. Work on our clients without an assignment. Not to get all Tracy Flick on you (look it up, Millenials) but some of the best ideas for clients come when you’re not working on a specific assignment. Spend an hour thinking about what you would do if you were the CMO of SweeTARTS or InnovAsian. What’s a new way to disrupt vaping? What are some ideas for the Kona brothers to day outside of a 30-second commercial?
7. Get to know your new stepsisters. We just merged with another company, right? Do a virtual hang with our new siblings in DCLA and find out more about them and the work they do. Working with them on some projects, I’m already learning stuff about influencers and experiential and partnerships that’s helping me better understand that world. They’re super smart.
8. Read and learn. There are so many great books and blogs and publications about our biz and what’s happening on our biz. Spend a little time digging in and learn something new about what we do for a living. (Plug: I’m reading Dave Trott’s Creative Blindness (And How to Cure It) right now and, really, y’all should read it, too.)
9. Get your review on. May is a busy month here at DC for our annual performance review process — both your self evaluation and filling out peer reviews for others. Use some of those extra hours to look DEEP into your soul (and the souls of others) and write that feedback down. (Note: I realize that your company may not be doing reviews on the same schedule, but taking time to write down your recent accomplishments and doing a little self-reflection about your work and career will set you up for a better review when it IS time at your company.)
10. Say hi to your kids! They’ve probably forgotten what you look like! (Aw, never mind. They probably don’t want to see you anyway. Just go to a movie. It’ll be more satisfying.)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Kovacevich is an executive creative director at San Francisco ad agency Duncan Channon. He often writes about what he’s learned in the advertising biz and you can read it all here.