Productively Wasting Time

Do you ever kill time mindlessly playing an inane game? During an ad break do you struggle to occupy yourself without resorting to searching the pantry for lost chocolate, or teasing your pets? My recommendation is that you spend those few minutes wisely, on something both entertaining and self-improving. Here are some suggestions.

1. Words with Friends - improve your word power far enough, and you'll be invited onto Dictionary Corner on Countdown, the UK word game show, to fill in for the legendary Gyles Brandreth.

2. Candy Crush - the process of lining up similarly coloured candies in rows may seem pointless, but it is actually perfect preparation for a job in the retail sector (stacking shelves at Big W with biros), or on a production line (e.g.in a lolly factory). When austerity hits and your well paid professional job disappears, you'll be thankful to have the sought-after skill of being able to sort items by shape and colour at high speed.

3. Wordsplay - another word game. Master this game and you'll soon befuddle your friends with your enormous vocabulary. To do well, you need to memorise obscure three letter words, such as as ait, ita, ain, ean, uta etc. So although your conversation will soon be undecipherable, you'll feel superior.