Excessive boredom at work

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Wow this sounds great and I must admit I don’t have this motivation (maybe when prescribed the Adderal it can help motivate me) . Just the fact that you thought of these great ideas makes me wonder where my heads been but I do have cloudy thinking and poor memory. I will continue to take courses myself and I must find a way to motivate my tired mind every day. Thank you again!!
 
I’ve been at two jobs like that. You wonder why they hired you. And they are paying you to do nothing; doesn’t make any sense. And down time can be painful!
 
Write something, journal or start a blog.

Remember to use paragraphs. :roll_eyes:
 
Another idea if you work for a university, or even if you don’t, is learn how to write grant applications. This seems to be a very necessary skill these days.
 
Absolutely look busy. Make yourself an asset in some way. Stand at your desk whenever you can. Start a journal inside a business looking binder. Write. Keep your journal safe from prying eyes. Lots of stuff you can do to remain valuable to your employer.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
There are ship tons of such jobs out there. I had several of them in a row.
It is difficult to explain them to other people unless they too have had such a job, because people will assume one is being lazy.
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I have pretty regular periods of it. It’s not so bad at my job - it’s that way for everyone, so they’re pretty well aware that people will entertain themselves however when it’s slow.
 
I don’t know how appropriate it is but you could produce a weekly 'Wacky Friday" new’s letter to staff.

The receptionist at my work sends one out all the staff. It is often quite funny, it includes some of the weird phone call’s that she receives over the week. It includes some trivia, the first person to email her the correct trivia answer gets a chocolate fish.

She is quite busy but does set time aside to get the news letter out on Friday’s. Just a thought.
 
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LoveTherese said:
I’ve asked my manager for work, I’ve asked others and all I do is sit at my desk for 8 hours and try to be nice to my not so nice coworker. I’ve prayed to God to help me deal with this boredom, I’ve done novenas to help me, today I was nodding my head with my mouth almost open it felt terrible because I sit in a high traffic area. ……I have taken a physical to see if maybe my tiredness and sleepiness is caused by something other than boredom at work but results are fine. Another problem that this boredom causes is I overeat at my desk. I have another appointment with my doctor to discuss possibly taking Adderal since I scored high on his ADHD test but he didn’t want to prescribe it until my next appointment. I’ve read up on it and although I’m glad it suppresses appetite I’m not sure I need that kind of stimulant sitting at a desk bored to tears (sometimes literally) for 8 hours.
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For someone with ADHD, a boring job can feel almost unbearable.

I once had a job where I sat all day long in a cubicle by myself doing boring paperwork. During the day, I often felt like I could hardly keep my eyes open and was about to fall asleep at my desk. I kept checking the clock and it seemed that time had slowed to a crawl. The experience was excruciating. And when I got home, all I wanted to do was lay down and sleep for a couple of hours. I didn’t stay in that job very long. I was subsequently diagnosed with ADHD and now take an amphetamine based stimulant in the same class as Adderall. It does help me quite a lot and has made a big difference in my life.

If you have ADHD, a stimulant would probably make a boring job more bearable for you. And stimulants are also used to treat narcolepsy, the main symptom of which (according to the Mayo Clinic) is “overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep.”
 
Thank you very much. i guess a part of me just needs to accept that this boring job that i’m getting paid hundreds of thousands dollars (in tuition) is what’s making me have to take medication. i feel like because of that i (maybe the adhd part of me? i must try not to hold resentment towards the folks who just don’t give me work. i read the litany of humility every day and that helps . Thanks again
 
Lots of good suggestions here given by the other members.

This may sound strange, but for me, having free time at work is great. There are so many things I can do in the free time, such as:
  • praying - silently or in my mind
  • reading articles online
  • learning languages
  • learning about real estate - I’m currently doing an online course on foreclosures, but sadly haven’t viewed them, only the 1st episode.
  • spending time here on CAF
  • read an e-book
 
Thank you so much, actually now that i think of it what really makes it hard is the constant high traffic area i’m in. i’m always having to look up and smile every 5 seconds it seems like thats my job. i know it sounds normal but after 4 years i just don’t feel like engaging every moment of the day i’d much rather be in a quiet cubicle. two months ago i talked to my boss about this and she said she would see what she an do. i never heard back. i know she’s making changes in the department so maybe it’s in the pipeline but i don’t feel comfortable following up with her. i know it’s in God’s hands and maybe he’s still teaching me patience even after 4 years. i can’t help but think it feels like being in a prison that i’m glad to escape at the end of the work day but i feel that’s the enemy planting that thought so i can grow resentful and not grateful because i am blessed in so many ways. Thank you
 
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Yup! When I started 4 years ago I was a different person but this job has humbled me in ways unimaginable and I did get much closer to God through the sufferings of dealing with the boredom and mean folks. Sometimes I half jokingly pray “ok I think I’m humbled enough now dontcha think? lol. My guardian angel I feel sometimes puts me in check when I have those thoughts. I know that sounds strange but it brings me comfort to try to believe I’m not alone in this first world struggle. At Mass I always ask my guardian angel to bring up my prayers to God when they are bringing up the gifts and sometimes the whole day will go by and I think “I haven’t spoken to my holy angel all day. And then I’ll just say hi and thank him for walking alongside me. Sometimes I apologize to him for having to be watching such a boring life as mine lol.
 
If you have to see/greet people so often, perhaps start a vigorous internal campaign to pray for each and everyone and set yourself the daily goal of some small ministry to them–doing some act of charity, however tiny. This can really change your mindset and would be an excellent thing to keep you occupied, at least some of the time.
 
This is a great idea!

You could greet the guardian angel of each person, or pray the Green Scapular prayer for them.
 
LoveTherese said:
Thank you very much. i guess a part of me just needs to accept that this boring job that i’m getting paid hundreds of thousands dollars (in tuition) is what’s making me have to take medication. i feel like because of that i (maybe the adhd part of me? i must try not to hold resentment towards the folks who just don’t give me work. i read the litany of humility every day and that helps . Thanks again
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I think you need to understand that a job =/= job description.

Your job seems to entail a bit of self-starting and ability to direct yourself in what you want to do. My first job was like this. We had crushing busy seasons and then we had slow times where there was “nothing” to do. My first manager was an idiot who just wanted me to clean over and over and gave me mundane and idiotic tasks to do trying to keep me busy. My second manager told me to fill my time–he didn’t care if I was playing solitaire, learning quantum physics or creating art.

So I realized it was my job to figure out what my job was. I did create art and advertisements for the store–beautiful dry erase boards welcoming students. Funny table top pop-ups to advertise in the cafeteria. I learned Spanish and a few keywords in Portuguese, Hindi and Taglog to better serve our ESL population. I revamped our convenience food section, polled students and got heat-and-eat meals, designer drinks and more toiletries turning HBC/Convenience from 1% to 4% of our business…something like a 5000% increase or something ridiculous.

You need to stop thinking that your job is simply to be a receptionist. Your job is to add value to your company/school. If you are not doing that, you are not doing your job. Do not rely on others to “give” you work in the same way a pre-schooler expects to be given worksheets.

You may need medication to be able to focus and be the self-starter you need to be for this job. The job is not forcing you to do so because of some failure on their part.

My guess is your predecessor probably did a ton of tiny things that you’re not even aware of and that he or she did not pass down. Many times, as with knowledge into the email system, printer, etc. these small things go unnoticed and worked around. We had a student in our office who was the secretary. When she left we realized that she did FAR more than her job description and it was hard to train the new person because what “Katie” did was a ton of small things for everyone. Myself, I knew Katie had the campus numbers memorized so rather than slog through a terrible internal menu I could just ask her. Small things that weren’t part of her “job” but really were.

So perhaps looking at it that way will help.
 
I think most people responding have confirmed what I’ve been convinced of for years: very few people in office jobs are busy all the time. Most do very little. It’s amazing that anything at all gets done.

I my own case, I was in a job (managerial, not receptionist!) where I did almost nothing for about three years. If I answered one e-mail a day that was typical. But as others have pointed out, in the internet age, there is infinite entertainment available: Facebook, e-mails, Amazon, learning languages, reading books online, watching cat videos, you name it. I even used to go to movies while I was “working.”

And before everyone jumps on me, yes, I told my boss: “I don’t have anything to do. Do you have any projects for me?” And he always said he did, but he never actually did. So not my problem. And yes, I was constantly looking for another job–that also consumed a lot of my time!
 
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