We all have to go. Most of us once a day. Others have to do it more often. However, we can be much more productive while doing or daily duty at the toilet.
Besides the old “joke book” and “newspaper” what can you do on the toilet to kill the time? I’ve found 37 things that might be a good option for you next number 2.
1. Newspaper - The age old classic of reading the newspaper. Nothing strage about that, right?
2. Joke book - Some loos feature a book with jokes for you to read. Nice, but mostly the jokes are of a very low quality.
3. Puzzle - Bring your sudoku book (any other type of puzzle will do) and start puzzling.
4. Novels - If you find it hard make time to read that novel everyone has been talking about, read it on the toilet. It’ll take a bit longer than usual, but you’ll get there.
5. Brainstorm - It’s quiet out there. Use your time to brainstorm and get some new ideas for whatever you need new ideas for. A pen and paper are handy to write it all down. Otherwise you may flush your ideas with the rest.
6. Redo your makeup - This one is for women only, but this is a nice place to redo your makeup with that travel-makeup-kit-thingy you always carry around.
7. Poke your nose - This is also a classic one. Nobody pokes his nose in public (well, most of us don’t) but if you like to clean it out, the toilet a good place to do it. No one sees you and you’ll get to wash your hands afterwards.
8. Listen to music - iPods are portable. Carry them with you at all times and listen to some tunes while sitting there. Other music devices such as mobile phones or mp3 players can be used as well.
9. Listen to podcasts - If you subscribe to podcasts, this is the time to listen to a few of them.
10. Watch some video - Have an iPod video or another portable video device such as the Playstation Portable? Make sure to set a clock, some movies run longer than 2 hours.
11. Play a game - You can play games on mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and portable gaming devices such as the Playstation Portable or a GameBoy. This is the time to finally beat the machine or set a new high score.
12. Learn stuff - Want to learn how to play Texas Hold’em poker? How to build your own kite? How to … You get it. Print out an article or two, bring a book or even your laptop and read more on these subjects.
13. Watch movie trailers - Don’t have time to watch trailers? Put ’em on your iPod and watch while waiting.
14. Chat - A lot of mobile devices have chat services. A laptop is the easiest way of chatting on the loo. If you want to talk, go ahead.
15. Read your mail - Use you mobile phone, PDA or laptop to check your (personal) email.
16. Check your stock - If you have stock feel free to check how much it’s worth now.
17. Blog - Want to write a blog post? Write it on the loo. If you don’t have wireless access (you should get that right now!) you can submit the post when you come back.
18. Tune your phone - This is more of a one time thing, but you may want to change your phones theme, background or ringtone every so often.
19. Read news - If you don’t have a newspaper feel free to read the news now on your laptop or PDA.
20. Organise your schedule - While you have the time, plan all the activities you need to plan and mark any problems in your schedule so you can fix them later (or fix them right now!).
21. Check Adsense - It’s always a good time to check up on Adsense and todays earnings.
22. Check your site statistics - Login to Analytics or view your logfiles and see if anything new is developing.
23. Decide on dinner - Don’t know what to eat after work? This is a time to decide on that.
24. Install/update software - Are new updates for your favourite programs waiting, take a bit of time and install them now.
25. Organise your to-do list - Check off items you have finished and add new ones you just thought off.
26. See what movies are running - Feel like going to a movie? Check online what’s running tonight.
27. Ping your coffee machine - If you’re a real geek, ping your coffee machine and brew a fresh pot for when you’re finished here.
28. Browse YouTube - Find a few movies you like and watch them. Laptop required.
29. Uninstall software - Uninstall all applications you don’t use to free up more space for your iTunes library.
30. Organise your documents - Organise all your files. Put them in neat folders and rename them properly.
31. SEO your site - Apply some quick patches to your site to improve SEO.
32. Link! - Post a speedlinking post or add links to your blogroll for sites your recently visisted.
33. Check free sites - Check those sites that collect free offers. Maybe something interesting has come up.
34. Hack the wireless routes - Try hack the wireless router your currently using. Make sure you don’t get fired over it!
35. Plan your trip home - Use an online planner to plan your trip home.
36. Work! - Need to finish a document fast? Continue working!
37. Do nothing - Old fashioned Number 2. Just sit there, do your thing and go!
Do you know other tasks you may perform while doing a number 2? Please continue the list in the comments. Thanksk for sharing!