You’ll often read that if you are bored with your job it is time to find a new one. Solid advice, but easier said than done. If financial/stability or some other concern is keeping you at a boring gig, here are several ways to break out of the funk. You might also want to consider researching online colleges.
– RUN IN CIRCLES. OK, you don’t really have to run in circles, but if you find work unbearably lame, you need to make an effort to exhaust yourself before you get to the office. This might be a trip to the gym or running errands.
This is a tactic that my shiba inu puppy employs (not the errand part!) before we put him into his crate for the night. He knows that he must exhaust himself in order to avoid a restless night behind bars.
– KILL THE INTERNET. Most workers who are killing time while ‘on the clock,’ rely on the endless supply of content provided by the Internet. This poses two major problems. 1) The Internet is easiest medium to track, meaning your employer could have quantifiable data to get you fired. 2) You can lose an Internet connection…then what?! It happens at all jobs: the Web goes down and people have no clue how to pass the time. Make an effort to squash boredom using an offline approach. Need ideas? Check out what this time wasting expert does.
– STOP WATCHING THE OFFICE. Sorry, dear reader, we know you’re a fan. Office misery has crept into our mainstream entertainment. Whether it’s movies, TV shows, the nightly news, or the endless self-help aisle at Barnes & Noble – we are surrounded. Even though some of this content appears innocent and funny on the surface, I argue that it can lead to work fatigue. The more you are thinking about work, the more difficult it might be for you to cope. So keep the office humor stuff to a minimum. Moderation, friends!
– CREATE YOUR OWN EXCITEMENT. Irrespective of what your day-to-day tasks are, there is likely some element of the job that you enjoy. Tap into this area. If it doesn’t fall within your job description, make the pitch anyway. Perhaps you can spearhead a campaign to help the company ‘go green.’ Ideally your excitement will be related to work. However, if you find it impossible to target a specific duty, then look outside the scope of the job. It could be as simple as playing office bingo with a co-worker or starting up a Super Bowl pool. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
You could be a greeter at a Wal-Mart or the traffic reporter for a local station, the bottom line is that work boredom is often in the eye of the beholder. You might think the Hollywood stars have it made, but if you think they’re not bored making the media rounds to promote a movie, think again! Watch any red carpet event and you will see a celeb who is bored at work.
How do YOU fight office boredom?
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