Being productive in between contracts

[NotAllThere]

Download SAP Netweaver ABAP or Java stack from sdn.sap.com and learn something new. You'll never apply it, because to work in SAP you have have two years experience...

[BrianSnail]

whatever you do, dont ever think "i wonder what all this fuss is about World of Warcraft, i bet it's rubbish but i should really give it a go to have an opinion on the subject" and download the 10 day free trial "just to see"..

WHS

I was on the bench over Christmas 2006 and received WoW as a present from my brother. Next thing I knew it was March 2007!

WoW kinda has the Tardis effect on your life.....

[EvilWeevil]

when you say read up on latest technologies such as

Please refer to Mr Badger's suggestion.

[synoniv]

May be editing or general clean up of wiki articles of your interests/profession/hobbies/weakness.

Mine is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer

[lukemg]

Had 4 months of this at the start of the year after rashly turning down an extension at a contract away from home. First few weeks are fine, got a holiday in but after that I really started to struggle. I don't really have solitary hobbies and my Plan B is investments that don't take any of my time and it's no use being up for a game of golf when everyone else is working. Got into a routine of looking for work, having one thing to sort out each day, watching TV, bit of cycling but I was fairly bored.
Has made me reconsider about retiring, think you have to plan very carefully for any time off you have. Next time for me I will be arranging some training that is becoming essential in the area I work, which will fill a couple of weeks. Also, I won't be walking off a contract anytime soon, without another to go to. It's sad, but I am 'trained' to go to work and my life is geared round that, I don't really enjoy working but I need the structure of it to enjoy the rest.
Good luck to all currently benched, been there, didn't enjoy it...

[Svalbaard]

A good post this. I love contracting because of the downtime I can afford to have (and it makes many of my friends envious lol). So... I was on the bench from late April and have just this week started a new contract, but the things I did in the time off were:

Completed my PADI Divemaster.
Recertified my Prince2 Practitioner and MOR quals.
Learnt to hit a golf ball with some consistency (although not very straight).
Got much better at poker.
Caught up on a whole bunch of movies.
Lost a stone in weight.

[Kess]

What do other contractors do for extended periods on the bench?

Whatever the wife tells me to do.

[Mustang]

A good post this. I love contracting because of the downtime I can afford to have (and it makes many of my friends envious lol). So... I was on the bench from late April and have just this week started a new contract, but the things I did in the time off were:

Completed my PADI Divemaster.
Recertified my Prince2 Practitioner and MOR quals.
Learnt to hit a golf ball with some consistency (although not very straight).
Got much better at poker.
Caught up on a whole bunch of movies.
Lost a stone in weight.

So how do you get new work? Just by agents calling you?