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Downtime: is it just me or does it really exist?

by Michelle Stark
Tuesday, January 18, 2005. 06:45PM
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For the last week or so, I have been bored out of my skull at work. Things are extremely quiet--few, if any, major client projects going on. I have been filling up my days with admin time and catching up on some reading, but it 's driving me crazy. One of the things I liked about the advertising industry was the fast pace and multiple things going on at once. Very frustrating.

So my question is, is it common for things to be slow in agencies this time of year? (I've been told that our slowness is probably because we are waiting on clients to approve plans for the year). Or maybe this happens more in PR than in advertising? (For those who don't know I am currently in the PR department). And furthermore, if downtime this time of year is somewhat common, are there any particular things I should be doing to keep busy? (I have been doing some research on new business prospects, but is there anything else I'm missing?) As I said, I hate being bored and I would like to be more useful if I can.

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 9 shown
Tuesday, January 25, 2005. 08:26PM by Michael Berkman
I've been holding on a client project for two months... In December I waited for the '05 Budget to kick in. Now Jan. is almost over and there's still foot dragging. What a drag! To make matters worse, I did the dumb thing and went freelance, so I'm not being paid while I wait for the project to start. I'm ebaying my computer stuff just to keep my head above water. Anyone looking for a VERY qualified producer? But wait, when this project does start, I'll be doing 24/7s and rolling in cashishe (both gross exagerations) and loving it (that's accurate). I read all of these comments wistfully remembering those few quiet weeks being bored - BUT STILL GETTING A PAYCHECK!!!
Friday, January 21, 2005. 09:27AM by Stacy Fu
I think it's a blessing when there are times of nothing going on at work. When one reflects back on the day, your environment makes great claims on your life. One is always thinking about something in the context of time, it occupies us so much, when we have time to ourselves we don't know what to do. I suggest, find a quiet place, where you can be alone. There clear your mind, of any task or debt you own to society (this is called Dharma), and just day dream. Enjoy the moment, forget about time. It will nuture your creativity. I am surprised, how no one suggests turning inward to search themselves for creative imagination, but rather read a book or watch tv. We’re supposed to be creative, and most of us don’t know what to do with free time.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 02:45PM by Todd Wilson
I work for an online-only agency, and we are extremely busy right now. We've been full-throttle since early November on several different clients. So, as much as I'd love to blame common downtime on Dubya (I blame him for almost everything else), I think it varies widely depending on who you work for, who your clients are, etc. Noelle and others are right, though, enjoy it while you can - unless a few weeks stretches into a month or two, then it's time to get paranoid...
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 10:40AM by Marc Lefton
I think they're waiting for Bush to announce the upcoming war with Iran. But as far as the economy goes I'm not too optimistic that it will get too much better. Ad spending will rise a bit, but historically the firsr year of a presidential term is the worse because the last year the president pumps extra $$ into the economy to make things seem better around election time. Then they yank the rug out from under us, so look for some sort of correction. Plus the dollar is weakening, we're in enourmous amounts of debt and China is rising.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 09:48AM by Noelle Weaver
As one who is, right now, working 12-15 hour days on both adv AND pr new biz pitches [downtime this is definatly not!] PLEASE enjoy it while you can! This is the perfect time to read up on industies, trends, latest news so that when that pitch comes in the door you're already ahead of the game....
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 09:44AM by Jennifer Schilcher
Anyone blaming it on a political year just wrapping up? Things have been "odd" since about the end of September. The stock market continues to climb (majority of days). If these companies held back in Q4...are we going to get hit with "held on to" advertising dollars in Q1 or Q2? From what I hear..it's sounding more & more like Q2'ish. Anyone else care to talk about what they've witnessed?
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 07:55AM by marc hartzman
I've always experienced periods of downtime, sometimes up to 2 weeks with nothing to do. On the other hand, I've had my share of late nights and weekends, so it all balances out. Find something else creative to do during slow periods. I published a magazine and wrote two books during downtime at work.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005. 06:56AM by Jessica Rosenthal
The slowness you describe sounds about right, as it is for our PR dept right now. I work for an in-house agency, so being both the agency and the client I can agree that the advertising (and external pursuits) are pretty stagnant right now, but wearing the client hat, it's insanely busy because we're finalizing budgets and strategy for 2005 to approve all developed plans. I see it from both ends--and trust me as frustrating as it is for the agency side, we're ripping our hair out too in anticipation to finally execute all we've worked on. So even though I too thrive on a fast pace and deplore boredom, just as Marc mentioned, enjoy it while you can...
Tuesday, January 18, 2005. 11:14PM by Marc Lefton
My advice to you is to enjoy it while you can. The period from mid-December to mid-January is the slowest of the year. Spring and Fall are usually the busiest with Summer being a little slow for vacations and whatnot. But this is a feast or famine business. I've had weeks where I did not a thing and was worried about getting laid off, and then worked 120 hours a week and sometimes 24 or 48 hour shifts.

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