Being reactive (rather than proactive) is something I don't like at all; it makes me feel unproductive and out of control of my own workflow and while I get the job done it leaves me feeling quite out of sorts. It's an area I've worked on, dealing with that feeling, and manage it well but it's an aspect of my work that I don't enjoy.
In respect of unbalanced workflow, busy then not, I tend to use the less busy times to plan ahead for those when I know I'll be busy or I take a moment for myself, a cafe, home early, longer lunch with a colleague, meeting my partner for an hour in the workday, that sorry of thing; it helps balance things out.
I just spend most of my time on Hive :) It's funny though because when you are dealing with teachers and kids, I don't think there is any amount of preparation that can get you ready for some of the stuff we have thrown at us. I kid you not, I had a girl singing up for a prison pen pal site the other day with her school email account. How do you anticipate that!?
Lol, prison pen pal...a seriously bad mistake for a young girl, kinda funny though.
I'm spending less and less time on Hive lately, for various reasons, and don't spend any at all when I'm on the clock for work...which is a lot of the time.
I sit at a desk pretty much all day, so I am fortunate to be able to do my hive thing while taking care of other stuff in tandem.