Three Tips on Getting Rid of Office Boredom
In an attempt to kill some of that time in the least painful way possible, you stand up and go get coffee. Again.
Sound familiar? Sure it does - I’m sure you’ve been there. We all have. In fact, that’s how 90% of the Western world goes to work. We don’t like work and we love talking about how much we don’t like it.
What we don’t realize, however, is that it’s not our job that we loathe. We are making it boring by our approach to it. So, to make your time at work a lot more enjoyable (and make it go faster), follow these tips:
1. Challenge Yourself
Boredom is not an external concept, but an internal one. There’s nothing intrinsically boring in the world. However, we experience things as being boring when they’re too easy for us.
Unfortunately many of us are born into an idea that an easy job is a good job. But have you ever noticed that the less you do at work, the more exhausted you feel?
Find a way you can push yourself at work. If your job requires speed, see how fast you can go. If it requires accuracy, become sharper than a laser beam. And then spend the rest of the day trying to beat your best.
And don’t even think about using “In my job I just can’t do that” as an excuse. Even if you staple paper for a living, you can challenge yourself to staple as many papers as you can in an hour.
2. Find Meaning
Surely, stapling paper is not as much fun as brain surgery, even if you try to do it quickly. Right?
Well, think about this - following the same logic, brain surgery is just slicing meat - and that’s even more boring. Politics is just typing and talking. Photography is just pushing a button. What makes a job interesting is not the function that you do, but the calling which makes you want to do it.
A great surgeon loves his job because he wants to save lives. A politician might want to change a nation. A photographer might desire to tell a story which needs to be told.
You can be a driver and feel like you’re making history - if you drive someone who is a revolutionary. Find a deeper meaning in your organization. And if the organization you work for doesn’t have one, quit tomorrow and find one that does.
3. Make A Difference
We have been led to believe that we must only work when a compensation is due. And we must never go above and beyond what’s required of us - because others might take advantage of our niceness. Have you ever noticed, however, that when a stranger in the street asks you for direction and you’re able to guide them in the right direction, it feels pretty good?
Well, making a difference to someone at work (simply because you can, not because you expect a reward) - is no different. Find someone who is experiencing a problem which you can solve, and guide them towards a solution.
Tell me, are you stuck in a job you find boring or meaningless? Do you have any additional tips to share for making work more exciting?
About the Author: Irene Kotov is the founder of Arielle Consulting, a business that helps people effectively manage their careers. Through online presence creation, Resume Writing Services Sydney and Interview Coaching, Irene works with job-seekers to have them create an impactful personal brand that stands out above the rest.
