bored during shifts🫩

pic for visibility lol! this is my coconut vanilla oat milk matcha latte. usually make it unsweetened but today i wanted a lil treat.

started as a barista at a small local coffee shop around a month ago. usually it’s super quiet during the week, besides morning rush and post-work rush, we probably get 1-3 customers an hour.

I used to bring my laptop to do miscellaneous stuff after all my side work was done, since the cafe was empty 90% of the time. but management just decided we’re not allowed to use laptops anymore. shift lead said she doesn’t mind since i’m a good worker, and i always clean, restock, and prep before getting on my laptop but the owners have decided to be super hands on about it and monitor the CCTV, texting us when they see us using a laptop or ipad.

they’ve told us that using phones is OK, but i hate being on my phone for prolonged periods of time and i get tired of scrolling rather than reading articles, doing school work, or whatever else productive i do on my computer.

i’m not allowed to practice latte art (even though i def need practice lol, just take a look at the pic i attached) since it obviously uses milk & espresso that’ll just get wasted. i read sometimes but my flow gets interrupted when customers come in so it’a not ideal. i usually exhaust ALL my side work before sitting down and checking my phone bc i just get so bored of doing nothing!! my coworkers have told me to chill and just relax when there’s no tasks but i feel like i’m wasting free time.

what do y’all do when bored on shift?