You don't, you live like THAT.

So, my work now knows that I'm leaving by September for grad school, and nobody supervises me or pays any mind to my productivity, nor do I have anything at all to do, really. I do a little printing, a little database maintenance, it's minimal. I'm not about to be let go, and I'm basically just leaching money from them, and I feel no guilt about this whatsoever. They want me here, babysitting this inbox.

But it's actually really hard to "work" more than 4 hours a day like this. Plus, I can't just watch videos or stream music or do other really obviously slacking-off web stuff. I wish I didn't feel like I needed the money, but with our upcoming move, my shift into being a grad student, my boyfriend's new job likely representing a temporary pay cut and our dwindling but still scary $15K in debt, I think I do.

Any advice for me on how to be patient and not so antsy?

(I just figured out how to MI here. Ha ha ha!)

You'll get used to it.

(Oops--I thought that was a more rhetorical question.)

If you don't have anything to do at work, maybe you could ask people whether there's something you could help them with?

That's definitely the "right" answer, box, but I still really like my flexible schedule and I'm a little afraid of getting more bogged down than I want to be, you know? Also, that basically means filing. No kidding.

It's hard to say how this would play at your job, but when I was in a (somewhat) similar situation, I took the opportunity to get started on my grad-school-related reading.

Or, better yet, you could play email Scrabble with me.

Work on stuff that no one will notice is not work-related. Design a new website. Write. I'm sure there's other stuff you can get away with, but these were the two things I did when I was temping and had little to do but sit at a desk all day, looking busy.

It does suck, but you'll pull through. And if there is any way you can get away with doing some pre- grad school reading, go for it.

Don't ask for extra work. You'll get it, and you won't like it. :)

Start doing research for grad school.

Maybe find a non-profit organization that needs some writing/research project done and do it for them. Or you can plan your home budget. Anything that is an actual project that looks like work but that really isn't FOR work.

Congratulations on starting graduate school!

You can IRC on the Web through Mibbit.com...

Can you read? I mean, I assume you can read, but are you able to read at work?

Shortly after moving to CA, I had a temp job for six months that involved sitting at a desk and opening the door to the computer lab on the rare occasions that one of the grad students forgot the passcode. It was extremely dull.

While on the clock, I designed two spoof websites (one of which made the talk radio circuit, 'cause they thought it was real) and carried out elaborate email pranks on acquaintances.

Hopefully you can find something more productive and less shady to do with your time. But hey. It worked for me.

Where does one get these temp jobs, and how does one go about applying for them:)

I basically used to spend my slacking-off time on Mefi and Mecha at my last job.

Hahaha, I got laid off today, with a month's severance. WOOOOO!