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Most of the time at my workplace, I work on projects that are on tight dead lines, stressed customers and a decent pace. I feel comfortable in these environements.

However, some times work pace slows down and even stops (which is natural I guess). My problem with slow downs is that I feel very awkward about the situation. Let's for the sake of simplicity say that I cannot really start innovation/enhancement projects on my own to keep busy (which would have been nice if it was possible).

How can I adapt to such "slow pace" periods quickly (before starting to climb the walls and annoy people)?

Petter Nordlander
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    By spending more time on stack exchange. – MrFox May 28 '13 at 16:33
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    But really, this is a very similar question minus the industry-specific stuff: http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/10645/how-to-keep-busy-during-slow-times-without-looking-like-i-have-nothing-to-do – MrFox May 28 '13 at 16:52
  • @MrFox Ya, SE, of course. Read that question some time ago but it's more about looking busy when you are not. Given there is nothing beside to do (i.e. no cleaning, no process improvements or so that was suggested by that Q ). My question is more on how to ramp down the pace and adjust to a slow pace rathen than finding things to do. – Petter Nordlander May 28 '13 at 17:44
  • Are you working as a developer? – Michael Zedeler May 28 '13 at 18:31
  • @MichaelZedeler OP is a Integration Architect/Consultant – Michael Grubey May 28 '13 at 18:37
  • @Michael Zedeler: Sort of.. architect/developer-ish. Does it matter for question at hand, how to quickly slow down pace at a workplace? – Petter Nordlander May 28 '13 at 18:45

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I'll assume that you're working within IT as @Michael Grubey wrote.

In that case, I've always claimed that working with software falls into three categories:

  • Analyzing, designing, writing and maintaining code.
  • Analyzing, designing, writing and maintaining tools that enhance the above.
  • Researching and seeking out new knowledge within IT (which enhances the two above).

Maybe you are not working on anything that fits the first bullet, but switching to any of the other two will just make you better at what you do, and thus more ready to tackle the next deadline. So you can't really be blamed that any such thing is a pet project - even if (when) you (hopefully) find it fun.

Michael Zedeler
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