April Fool’s day has a bad reputation because some people take their pranks a bit too far. Here are harmless pranks that’ll put a smile on anyone’s face:
- Unattended mice. Putting tape over the bottom of the mouse’s laser tracker will stop it from working. This’ll drive some people nuts, but it’s a classic prank that’s completely harmless. Wait until your victim gets up for something and do the prank. If after a couple of minutes they can’t figure out they’ve been pranked, let them know about the tape.
- Turn on the radio. This prank requires you to work in an area where there are many filing cabinets. Turn on the radio (or other device with music/sound) and situate the volume so that you can hear a low enough sound but still loud enough to hear something. When someone asks “Can you hear that?” just keep saying no.
- Post it notes. This is another classic. Wait until your victim leaves (for lunch or a break) and cover their cubicle with post-it notes. You can leave them blank or write something funny on them. One funny idea is to label everything on someone’s desk with post-it notes. This is a fun prank because it’s easy to clean up.
As always, it’s important to remember to not let pranks go on for too long, especially if it hinders on someone’s ability to get work done. The best rule of thumb here is: if it disrupts work for more than a couple of minutes, don’t perform the prank.