Amen to what Steve says about a work queue. I've been in environments where, more than once, a dialogue with my manager would go like this:

Me: "My to-do list is empty."

Manager: "Oh, umm, let's have a meeting to talk about that... [consults calendar...] the day after tomorrow." Or even: "Yeah, I know, I'm still looking for something for you to do."

Now, if I had cast-iron balls, or an amulet that gave me a +5 bonus on my saving throw versus layoffs, I would respond to that with "OK, I'll just stay home tomorrow and check email on my laptop every few hours, just in case something comes up." But that's not how the game is played, of course.