When people find out that I work third shift, their first response is usually How can you possibly stay awake? (answer: caffeine drip) followed by, Don’t you get bored all night long? Answer: Not when you’re as proficient at killing time online as I am. And now with these proven methods you too can become a certified Internet Time Waster^©:

1. Go down, down, down the rabbit hole of links. Here, Wikipedia is your friend; thanks to a multitude of hyperlinks, one thing often leads to another, and you can go from reading about Elizabeth I to learning more about existential psychotherapy, all without ever leaving your computer!

2. Catch up on your favorite television shows. Network sites (ABC, NBC, CBS) are great for this, as they’ve started putting streaming videos of their current shows online for you to watch whenever you want. Alternatively, you can go to places like fanpop.com or sidereel.com to catch back episodes of truly classic shows, like The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.

3. For more viewing fun, cruise around YouTube looking for fun and amusing clips. There’s a multitude of precious bunnies, talkative kitties, giggly babies, and other cute critters. Not to mention the littlest Beatle.

4. Find an interesting blog and spend a few hours sifting through their old posts. Some of my favorites: Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords, Baggage and Bug, 6YearMed, sweet salty, and The Daily Coyote.

5. Write e-mails to all of those people you’ve been intending to write e-mails to. Or don’t. At this point it’s likely that they’ve accepted your slacker status.

And finally, you can always blog at 3:43 in the morning about all the ways to kill time…at 3:43 in the morning.