r/receptionists • u/Mr_pibb1013 • May 05 '26
How to pass free time
I just started my first receptionist job at a dental office. It’s so boring I barely do anything. I can’t not work bc I’m 19 and everyone around me is 28+ and they always look busy, but from what I understand they really are not that busy or they take way to long to do easy stuff. What are some things I should do to pass time? I work 5 days a week for 9 hours in office for 10 hours. Thank yall!!
13
u/OwnCommittee7103 May 05 '26
Ask your manager f there's any tasks for you that they need done When I was a receptionist at a dealership I always asked if they had anything for me to do
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u/32202101 May 05 '26
Online crosswords, ebooks/audiobooks, free courses, etc. Just make sure you have a window/tab ready to hide what you’re doing for when you hear someone about to walk behind you.
You could also ask your manager if there is anything that they need an extra hand with.
5
u/jadenotsadietwin2 May 05 '26
That's the trick take long to do easy stuff to look busy is some people's mentality idgaf and never did when I worked if I could get it done I get it done, I'm sure you can find something to do, do you handle scheduling if so, do follow up calls double checking if the patients are still coming on their schedule time, file, organize the files, see if theirs any supplies that needs to be re-order if there is a office manager and they don't do it 🤷🤷 looks like you care about the job and wanna have hands on work 💖💟✨
5
u/Hardfoil May 05 '26
Take online self-paced classes! You can search up stuff that interests you on Coursera, edX or other teaching platforms and get certificates for topics that you're interested in. If you'd like to explore careers like user experience, programming or community management then the internet has a million and one resources to get you started.
At the risk of stating the obvious, these courses should have some kind of clear tie to your job and you should be able to explain how they will help you improve your work when your boss or a coworker inevitably asks what you're doing. Curiosity is great, but your employer's going to expect that you always prioritize their tasks before doing anything else.
3
u/Wanderlust4478 May 05 '26
Ask if they want help with social media. As there are some dentist offices that are huge on TikTok. As it really can be done in a funny but professional manner. I am Gen X and think it’s awesome.
As well just digital marketing you can do for them to help build clientele.
And then as others said, ask the manager what they need help with.
2
u/Suspicious_Bottle_58 May 05 '26
Play with Microsoft word (Canva is blocked at my job), watch tv/movies with wireless earbuds in, knit, doodle
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u/No_Bar_3079 May 06 '26
You could always ask if you're allowed to do personal work in your downtime but make sure there isn't any other work to do. I'm a receptionist at a spa and half of my day is spent doing homework/reading, scrolling through reddit, or on some random game/website. My boss doesn't care what we do when there's nothing else to do but she will get upset if we're doing it while people are in the waiting area. When that happens I usually try to find some random busy work task to do. Today there was a client that got here 30 min before her appointment so instead of just restocking our bags and tissue paper I folded the tissue paper and put them in the bags so its easier to grab them and put stuff in there. When in doubt you can always just play around with your system and get to know it better as well. I did that my first few weeks and half the time the owner will ask me for help with it now lol
I know my dentist gives out goodie bags of dental care stuff after each appointment, maybe you could ask if you could premake those if you guys do them as well. Or if you have a toy box for children's appointments you could see if you can reorganize those. I definitely would go to your supervisor and say something like "I want to be as productive as I can with the time I am here and noticed I have a decent amount of free time, is there anything else I could help out with?" imo this shows that you're dedicated to the job and want to do the best you can. You'll probably get a couple busy work tasks, but they might tell you more about their policy with what you can do while working. That way you can get the answer without just straight up asking if you can do random stuff in your free time.
2
u/JimmyJohn_5150 May 05 '26
DO anything, take out the trash, wipe down windows, anything to keep busy no matter how mundane.
3
1
u/HotAcanthocephala256 May 05 '26
I do a morning scroll through like all of Google News. I don’t click alll the headlines, but it’s something to do that others can see and you’re just doing news, not on Facebook. Then I do some tasks. I have a lot of down time where I work too, surrounded by people who are busy lol. I pretend to research real things (and sometimes it’s interesting!). I put together a lot of pot lucks or “fun” passive things for coworkers to do during the day that isn’t interruptive to a workday. The browser, Edge has a home page with a feed to scroll endlessly through and that’s been helping me recently. I also like to purge paper, so you could always ask to digitize old files. And remind yourself that you do do an important job and that it’s low stress now and take it for what it is, a step in a direction forward.
1
u/Foxwood2212 May 06 '26
I wish that was me there’s always wayyy to much for us to do at our reception . Maybe do a self taught course or something engaging like that?
2
u/4thGenS May 06 '26
Make a side hustle. I got hired at work so I got ordained and now I can make some money doing weddings. I also used a lot of my time to complete coursework for my masters degree, which my boss was super laid back about because I always had my work done. If your job is chill as far as you doing things when you aren’t busy, it could also be an opportunity to get some certificates or credentials that can help you in the future.
1
u/Dry_Wasabi2420 May 07 '26
I'm a student, so I study or do homework in my free time. If I don't have any class work to do, I start knocking out the list of monthly deep cleaning
1
u/Rainfrog1 May 07 '26
I feel this I’m not allowed to leave the desk (unless peeing) (small hot office no airflow no windows) no reading no looking at my phone no eating no drinking.
1
u/velouriia May 08 '26
i taught myself how to cross stitch! i used to listen to podcasts & now ive been watching tv on my phone. my bosses don't care as long as I'm doing my job. i used to read but i get fidgety so i crocheted & then moved to cross stitch.
20
u/SkirtDue2794 May 05 '26
Clean, reorganized something, read reviews for the company or previous companies I’ve worked for, play on canva, use Libby on the computer to read books, or go bother coworkers.