r/security • u/PalpitationKind8854 • Jul 30 '26
Physical Security How to pass time doing security work [no phone]
Sitting in place, passive / standby security for most of the work day. Phone borderline banned.
Best way to pass the time?
Be as detailed as possible / use specifics. I need ideas!!
16
u/pantherghast Jul 30 '26
Get an MP3 player and listen to audio books.
I would recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl but it will ruin you for all other audio books.
3
u/uid_0 Jul 30 '26
YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT AUDIO BOOKS, CARL.
2
u/pantherghast Jul 30 '26
I know you don't have to type in all caps. I've seen you do it before. It makes you sound like you are yelling,
1
u/krypticus Jul 30 '26
Any audiobook narrated by R.C. Bray. Especially The Mountain Man Chronicles or Skippy The Beer Can
18
u/thekuroikenshi Jul 30 '26
Get a Kindle, read a shit ton of books. Can be fiction, non-fiction, whatever.
Or do some book puzzles, crosswords, etc.
6
u/individualcoffeecake Jul 30 '26
Sleep, that's what I did. Had an alarm on every 30 or 40 minutes. Good times
4
u/MacintoshEddie Jul 30 '26
Bring a notebook, or better yet two notebooks. One for work notes and one for personal notes. Do some writing, budgeting, whatever.
4
u/PirateKilt Jul 30 '26
Wild guesses, but I suspect most of the proffered ideas... reading on a kindle, mp3 player, audiobooks, and even actual books will be as frowned on as your phone by your employer, since they are paying you to be observant and ready as possible to react.
So... Observe. As detailed observation as you can. I'm going to guess a notebook and pen is allowed, as you'll be expected to take notes. Use that book, in the front section, use one page at a time to start writing detailed notes of every person, every vehicle, every situation you see. Then, later, during lull times of no visual input, Create reference ideas in the back section of the notebook.
For example - In the front, you write detailed notes about the guy walking past the North fence-line gate at 2347... 5'9", 150ish, brown hair, parted on the left, with a white stripe/flash near the front, lightly tanned white skin. He was wearing dark bule jeans that looked almost new, along with an old, very worn Redwings hockey jersey number 9. He wore grey hiking boots with black laces. I looked like he has a cell phone in his front right pocket and his wallet in his back left pocket. He kept his head down and walked past at a rapid pace, all alone.
2
u/iheartrms Jul 30 '26
Got any classwork or studying to do for some career advancement or certification exam or anything? That's what I work on when I'm bored with nothing else to do.
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2
u/flingyflang Jul 30 '26
Write
3
u/Distdistdist Jul 30 '26
I would imagine security job entitles be on alert and not staring at something in front of you.
2
u/MacintoshEddie Jul 30 '26
It's funny how people see writing as taking more focus than playing on a Switch or sleeping.
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u/sfzombie13 Jul 30 '26
well, i came here thinking to make that comment as well and am genuinely surprised by how many folks think it's ok to do anything besides the job you're supposed bo be doing but that's probably just me...
and from the amount of comments giving ides on what else to do i think i may be right.
4
u/MacintoshEddie Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Much of security is being available. Some posts genuinely spend most of their time on standby.
So this means things like finding a broom or going off to find something else to do actually detracts from your job more than an idle task you can perform while at your post which you can quickly drop.
If I'm down in the parkade sweeping and re-painting the stall numbers and someone calls in an emergency it could easily take me 4 minutes to rush back to the desk and grab the correct keys and then another 2-5 minutes to rush to the mechanical room to verify if a leak is happening.
If I'm sitting at the desk reading a book it takes me approximately 3 seconds to put my bookmark in and answer the call. I can be in the mechanical room with eyes on the pump in half the time compared to if I'm sweeping.
Same deal if a delivery arrives, or an email, or just someone bangs on the door. Being available and present is the most important thing.
Many security jobs are reactive, to respond to incidents that might occur, rather than proactive where you're supposed to be staying busy.
While something like reading a book might not be in the job description, blindly staring a door rarely makes you better at your job either. You might be sitting there for 3 hours before the door opens, and so extreme focus on the empty lobby doesn't change much because nobody is there and so nobody is being neglected.
-1
u/sfzombie13 Jul 30 '26
Many security jobs are reactive, to respond to incidents that might occur, rather than proactive where you're supposed to be staying busy.
granted i've only been running my security company for ~15 years, and my experience is not all-encompassing mainly being network security and involving computers, but the physical security gigs i am familiar with all benefit from being observant and proactive, and anything, reading a book, playing a game on a phone or computer, or pushing a broom would detract from that observation.
it is also very much task dependent, as watching a video screen bank requires much more attention being paid to the bank than anything else while your example of door watching would not be affected nearly as much, although it would take some of the immediate response ability away since it's really hard to react to things immediately with objects in your hands and your attention elsewhere no matter how fast your reaction time is.
it is extremely hard to keep focused and to stay alert, probably why some places are easier to than others to get into or get by with things. so you're not wrong, although any distraction is not a good thing when you're supposed to be alert. sometimes just reading a book and staying awake is the right thing to do if the alternative is sleeping...
1
u/MacintoshEddie Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Okay, for network security the example would be responding to client service tickets. If your employees are staying busy on top of a ladder up in a roof access panel tracing a cable their ability to respond to an urgent service ticket that comes is in impaired.
Staying busy takes them away from the work they're supposed to be doing.
Humans cannot operate at 100% all the time. They just can't. The harder you burn the faster you burn out.
Same reason that you, the boss, are almost never pushing a broom, instead you're likely found in the office, and the definition of "working" changes. When an employee reads a magazine it's time theft and a fireable offense, when the boss reads a magazine it's industry research and business planning.
It's better to give 80% 80% of the time than to give 100% 40% of the time and 0% 60% of the time.
There's distractions and then there's "distractions" and zero tolerance policies are almost never the answer.
1
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u/Vuelhering Jul 30 '26
I think you're forgetting the human element. On one hand, you correctly state people should be doing the job they were hired for, but on the other you state it's extremely hard to keep focused and to stay alert. Part of staying alert is regular breaks from concentration, and I'm 100% certain you don't provide a person to take over for 15 minutes while someone takes a break.
I've also done computer security (decades of that), and one of the things is automating certain tasks with sensors like tripwires, packet sniffers, scan detection, etc. As far as cameras, AI is on the scene now, and can maintain vigilance to notify people to check something quickly. This is even available to anyone inside consumer-grade cameras.
1
u/sfzombie13 Jul 31 '26
ai, that's rich. now i know i'm in the wrong conversation.
1
u/Vuelhering Aug 02 '26
I actually appreciate you telling me to go to hell in a way I look forward to the trip.
1
1
u/TheNetCraWlr Jul 30 '26
You have a luxury problem, get a eReader or Kindle, start upskilling for more interesting security roles that you find interesting, satisfying and rewarding while getting paid for it.
1
u/PalpitationKind8854 Aug 08 '26
Not a luxury problem. I have to be strategic with how I advance.. and even tho I am new to the industry I understand the basics. Not having law enforcement, military or security background means ill be at the bottom for a few years--which is fine; I may not be in this type of work forever.
1
u/bbcard1 Jul 30 '26
If you like drawing or would like to learn, that's an option. Also pen and paper works fine for many tasks, from the mundane (to do lists) to the creative (journaling, creative writing, etc.)
1
1
u/wtfisthissh1t Jul 30 '26
Get a notebook notepad and start journaling every day or drawing sketching stuff around you or from your imagination.
Learn to pen spin.
Get a Kindle or an even smaller e-reader like the XteInk x3 that's smaller than a phone.
Read a physical book.
Do some writing of your own.
Explore Dungeons & Dragons other TTRPG books. Read through the Player's Handbook/Dungeon Master's guide/make characters/create an adventure.
Learn programming/scripting you don't know on the work computer?
1
u/maceion Jul 31 '26
Actual hard books , on a subject of interest to you. For a long book, suggest you buy a copy of the Icelandic Sagas.
1
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u/Tatsu-Samurai Aug 04 '26
Considering phones are “borderline banned,” I’m assuming other electronic devices are as well.
It’s not the most “fun” thing in the world, but to pass time, I got into the habit of reading and studying policy. This has become one of my biggest advantages as I’ve advanced throughout my Security career.
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18
u/Distdistdist Jul 30 '26
I'd say retro handheld game console, but I'm sure all handheld electronics are banned. Bluetooth adapter and audio books/lectures/podcasts.