I was just wondering what you guys do when you have time to do something, but dont really know what to do. To clarify I'm not talking about free time (i.e. those wonderful guilt-free moments when you can indulge in doing nothing) but times when you can't necessarily do the things you have to do (e.g. because you are waiting for feedback, etc) and so want to be doing something else that's useful. Yesterday I spent the whole day catching up on my annotated bibliographies. Today I had a couple of hours this afternoon - not really long enough to get stuck into the 'big' things I need to do but plenty of time to do a few smaller things....if only I knew what they were.

This is a bit of a ramble. If you can decifer it I would welcome any thoughts...on the ramble, not the deciphering

Tidying up files on the computer? Mine tend to get into an awful mess after a while. Or searching through recent editions of relevant journals? :)

Agree with previous post, filing is always useful whether it's on the computer or hard copy. It's definitely a good idea to keep things organised. Maybe reading a paper or 2 if there's anything that you've been meaning to read for a while but haven't got round to it yet. Also checking out publication alerts for the key journals in your subject, you can get these sent to by email for most journals it usually involves registering on their website. This way you can stay up to date with current work even if you don't have time to read something at least if it's been downloaded then it can get added to the 'read me' pile. If there is any bits of fairly easy data processing that need doing (obviously depends on your field) you could spend a bit of time doing that.

It's good that you are always looking for things to do rather than resorting to aimless web surfing. Hope I've given you some ideas.

I could do with some suggestions too. I'm very much at a loose end, waiting for approvals for access to data, waiting for feedback on my literature review. I have further literature I could read, but I've pretty much done nothing but read for the last five months, and as a hands on person that frustrates me. I feel as though I should be busy doing academic things like writing papers or learning how to programme in multiple languages, but I'm more motivated by tasks that are goal driven and I don't have any goals right now, outside of the things I can't do due to external constraints.

I'm getting worried that the time is just slipping away, but I can't work out how to productively use it right now.

Ho hum.

Organise your refs as they take they some doing and it's easy to fall behind if you're busy!