Another perk of working in the corporate world is free printing and faxing at all times! My printer ran out of ink last year and I haven’t gotten around to refilling it. Why should I when I can print anything I want to for free?

I went on a trip to Amsterdam in 2005 (and 2006) and both times I printed off all sorts of information that I certainly should not have been doing at work. I also print airplane tickets, entertainment book coupons, maps, and…just about anything I want to. However, this is not something just anybody can do without some careful planning.

Here are some tips:

1. Before printing, scope out the actual printer. Are other people around? Is the printer jammed or needing paper? Does there seem to be a lot of activity nearby? Is there something in the tray waiting to be picked up?!? If any of the above is happening, retreat, and wait for a good opportunity.

2.Once you’ve confirmed a quiet printer, find two one-page documents to use as plants so that if somebody- upon-whom-your-continued-employment-depends shows up, you can reference the documents as yours. Print the first dummy document, then your illicit Amsterdam info/job list from craigslist/coupons/directions, and finally your second dummy document.

3.Head towards the printer as fast as you can without drawing any weird looks from your coworkers. The vast majority of the time you’ll be free and clear to pick up the documents. No spilled milk. Nobody gets fired.

4. If you encounter somebody at the printer paging through items, don’t panic. If you don’t know the person, who cares? If there is anything in the tray, grab it before they can. Page through and say, “Oh sorry, this must be yours.” Try to quickly engage them in off topic coversation. Blind them with your watch. Once they get their print job, they’ll go. If somebody has picked up the pile, just run like hell.

4. Print as much as you can as often as you can. If you create a paper jam, be sure you know how to cancel the file from printing when somebody else (definitely not you) fixes the problem. You should be able to cancel on either the actual printer or from your computer.

Print on, print on…

Technorati Tags: corporate world, free printing, faxing, printer, weird, coworkers

• Befriend the administrative assistant
• When slacking turns to absolute sloth
• art of a long lunch