Downtime at work is your most productive humor time.

Even the most efficient and industrious companies have their down times, and these are the best times to find humor on the job. Since a lot of downtimes come after some very harrowing problems, these are the best times to horse around a little and regenerate the humor factor around you. In fact, your coworkers will likely thank you for relieving everyone’s stress and it will give the office a feeling of renewal to tackle the next major project.

Here are some fun ways to enjoy break or lunch time:

Bring in a giant bouquet of balloons and pass them around the office.

Fill a common cupboard with ping pong balls.

Use a binder clip and clip the sleeves of a jacket or sweater hanging on your victims chair, enjoy the confusion when they try to put it back on.

Make paper airplanes and throw them over the cubicle wall; point to someone else when they come around to see who did it.

Staggered throughout the week unplug different parts of your co-workers’ computer. Start with the mouse, then the ten-key pad, then the monitor, and even the keyboard. If unplugging is not really an option, just put some scotch tape over the roller ball of the mouse and you will have some fun.

Glue a quarter to the floor in your office, the break room, outside the front door, anywhere. Just place it where you will be able to watch people try to pick it up.

Leave a message on someone’s voice mail, please call Mr. G. Raffe. And leave the number to the local zoo.

If there is a coat rack at work, turn all the coats, sweaters, overcoats, hats, mittens or anything else you find inside out. At the end of the day you will have some fun watching the confusion. My suggestion is to place your coat there and turn it inside out as well to make you appear innocent.

Make up stories about your pen out loud.

Have roller chair derbies around the office.

Roll a large piece of paper up like a cigarette and go out for a break with the smokers; ask for a light.

Put sticky notes all over your co-worker’s desk while he or she is away.

Walk into someone’s office and turn the light on and off 10 times

while they watch you. If they ask you why, look at them like they’re crazy and leave without answering.

Rearrange a co-worker’s desk so that it looks exactly the same, only in a mirror image.

After a particularly stressful meeting or conference call, take a deep breath and then bark like a dog to clear your head.

Have a snowball fight during lunch.

Get some hair extensions that match an officemate’s hair color and leave clippings around their desk and chair over the course of a week or so; watch them constantly run to the washroom to check their hair.

Make several copies of paperclips, put the copies in the feed tray, and watch as people go nuts trying to find the paperclip in the copier.

Tape down the button on an officemate’s phone so that it continues to ring even after the hand piece is picked up.

Greet people in the elevator like Mork from Ork, saying, “Nanoo nanoo!”

Walk like Groucho Marx around the office; fiddle with a fake cigar while you do so.

Playing games in the office is great fun, but there are dozens of ways to create a cohesive team mentality outside the stuffy confines of the building, and even outside of work hours.

One of the worst parts about growing up and getting a job is the loss of team fun we had in school. When was the last time you played in a league of any sort? Have you spent any time cheering for your friends on the field since high school? Now that was fun! Well, you may no longer be in school, but you may find that your co-workers miss that kind of thing as much as you.

Contact your local park district to find out what types of leagues they offer in each season, and put up a few flyers around the office to see who’s interested. Most park districts have at least softball, basketball and flag football, but a few may have some of the more unusual sports, like dodge ball and badminton. Think outside the box and find something that’s unique for your crew to dig into. Heck, there may even be a sandcastle or snowman building competition open to teams.

Even those not interested in playing sports can get into the action by coming along to cheer. And if league action doesn’t do it for you, there are lots of other options.

Start here:

Bring in lawn darts and have a week-long tournament.

Create a Frisbee golf course around the office using trees and light poles as targets.

Ask the company to supply an air hockey table or buy a used one at a garage sale and ask if you can bring it in.

(GREAT stress reliever)

Have a monthly Karaoke date at a nearby place for the whole crowd.

Plan ahead by bringing in an extra set of clothes and have a water fight on a particularly hot day.

Fill a piñata with fast food gift cards, candy, and coupons for casual days; then give everyone a chance at it; make it really fun and dress it up in a suit and tie.

Bring in a charcoal grill and make hamburgers and hot dogs for the whole team for lunch; be sure to wear your favorite goofy chef’s apron and hat.

Make a Hop Scotch board out of printer paper taped together and use a paperclip for the rock; make a tournament out of it.

Race a friend up the wrong escalator.

At the very least, you should take 10 or 15 minutes out of your day every day to laugh, no matter how you make it happen. Whether you are stuck behind a desk or pumping a jackhammer on an overpass, you can always create opportunities to laugh at work. Find a website with clean, funny jokes and read them out loud to your coworkers or bring a book of comedy shorts to browse through for a few minutes over lunch. Keeping yourself in a good mood will go a long way toward keeping everyone else that way. It’s like a reciprocal gift you give yourself.

 

For more: Check out my book “Lemons to Laughter”

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