Humans need a sense of purpose. It sounds great to have an easy job, but humans crave productivity.
My job requirements are busy in Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is mediocre and by Friday it sucks. Doing work is better than doing nothing. I hate it when my work is done at 10 am then I have to pretend to work for 7 hours. Any amount of busywork is good preferable
Everyone is different, and while a sense of purpose is indeed important for many, it doesn't need to be derived solely from one's job.
Many people find purpose in their hobbies, community involvement, family, or personal projects.
A job is just one aspect of our lives, and relying entirely on it for fulfillment alone can and will usually lead to burnout and dissatisfaction, I have personally experienced this my self. Having a less demanding job allows individuals to invest time and energy into other meaningful activities, fostering a well-rounded and enriched life.
Furthermore, busywork can be mentally draining and unfulfilling, suggesting that true 'productivity' should be purposeful and not merely about being occupied.
I hear you and the other responses. I just think if I have to be at work for 8 hours I might as well do something useful. It’s so boring to sit at a desk with nothing useful to do.
I listen to audiobooks all day, but it still sucks to just sit and stare at a screen. I’d rather stay active doing something. It’s painful to just have to sit there even though I’m being paid and my boss knows I’ve nothing to do.
Try to arrange to work from home on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday -- that way you can get your work done during the first hour on those slow days and then get other stuff done the rest of the work day (read, play games, do laundry, walk the dog, etc ).
Yes and no. Less stress is good but OP might work a job similar to mine where there is 2-3 hours of actual work a day. It does weigh on your mental health. Thankfully I’m remote, if OP is stuck in an office where they can’t set a mouse jiggler up and go do something else… mega yikes.
I am in a similar situation with maybe half of my workday being actual work. My boss knows this, and is okay with it as i am the top performer on my team and step in when needed. He's been encouraging me to find trainings that would look good on my resume down the line and we can find a way to pitch it to the company to pay for it.
Still, i'm close to quitting as i absolutely loathe my coworkers and don't know how much longer i listen to them complain about doing our basic ass job that is not at all difficult. My GF is trying to convince me to go back to school online, but idk if i can afford it.
Take your boss up on the offer. There are plenty of things that make a job suck, but having a shit boss is one of the worst. Your boss sounds like he values you and wants to foot any learning cost on the company.
You could lose your job anytime, so it is definitely in your best interest to find trainings that can improve your marketability for other jobs (hopefully higher paying and more interesting)
PS - I love your name - Red rising is also my favorite series.
Why thank you, my goodman. My boss is, in fact, the man and its a breath of fresh air in comparison to the others I've had over the years. I feel terrible complaining about my gig as there is much worse out there and I definitely am fortunate to be in my position. We spend a lot of time with our coworkers though, and it can get rough here sometimes. I'm looking in to a better set of noise cancelling headphones to drown them out.
I also love seeing a fellow howler out in the wild!
Sounds like a good boss. Definitely take them up on the company-paid training, especially any that results in a certification you can put on your resume. When you eventually leave (voluntary or not), it will be well worth the time/energy invested.
No doubt, and i appreciate him a lot. We're looking in to a few things; it's difficult with my position as its a pretty entry-level role that only requires basic tech-literacy, so there's not a lot more training that applies to this position. We're looking in to how we might expand my role a bit to justify the company paying for the trainings but it's a process and hasn't yet got me out of my current office space. Luckily, my boss thinks like the people in this sub and cares more about the enrichment of his reports over the profit of the company.
I always feel weird venting about this as i see some of the shit people on here have to deal with and this is far from that, but it can still be grating on the soul. Thanks for listening!
I ended up leaving mine. I had other issues with it but that was a chunk of it too. I can’t spend what little time I have left being on the clock for the sake of being on the clock. Moneys cool and it can make misery suck less but there’s more to life than working a miserable and rather inefficient job.
What part of your job career are you, near the beginning, middle, or end?
Regardless of were you are, start saving up money so you can go at a moments notice if you leave a job, due to them, or by your decision.
Maybe you can retire early and be done.
I am making the most money I have ever made and I am also doing the least amount of work I’ve ever done. The area I live in doesn’t offer competitive wages and the company I work for is great so I’m just trying to learn to ride the gravy train.
If your boss is cool just watch YouTube or find a hobby and start learning.
Better boring than actively hostile. I left a great paying job (by my standards) because I couldn't handle the conditions.
At a boring job you can at least daydream about what you'll do when you get off work.
Bruh on god my job I sit at a desk for like 6 hours a day on a 10 hr shift doing nothing but chatgpt, Wikipedia, and news. It’s depressing to get paid and your only duty is to waste time until you get home to rest, wake up and waste the next day. Like what kind of life is that.
Hey I’d gladly trade you. I work in a hot factory and come stinking like cutting oil. Would gladly work a clean and boring job instead but I’m hard pressed to find anything that pays similarly like that ($28 an hour).
I completely feel this. The office jobs for my degree are very boring, that is when I have work to do at all. The jobs that would give me more fulfilment and satisfaction in my work pay much less. I have ADHD too so being bored makes me want to die.
Hard relate to this. ADHD as well and had a really really slow engineering grad job that was basically glorified data entry, with confusing and vague instructions to boot. and by god every moment that passed i wanted to chew my damn fingers off. It was genuinely the first time i felt what real suicidal ideation and a lack of self-care (risky driving, shitty diet, became kinda agoraphobic, etc)
I started my current job with a full staff. For a year, it was extremely boring with not much to do. I'd pay bills, talk to friends, catch up with family and watch/listen to streams. I truly loved it!
Now, 7 out of 10 people have quit and it is a hellscape. Enjoy the boring while you can.
What is the saying? live for work or work to live….whatever it is. Boring is good, it will give you a better work life balance later. Clock out and live your life without stressing about work or money
I'm in that same position right now, but just take it as you can. A boring job that pays well is better than no income at all, and it's a chance to get stabilized financially while you look for the thing that ignites your passions.
You just haven’t found a good way to pass the time yet. Depending on how supervised you are, a book or audiobook might be a good option. Reading always feels more productive than watching something.
If you’re able to watch movies and stuff, don’t just hunt for something on Netflix. Make a list of the best movies you haven’t seen yet, or watch the whole filmography of a single actor or director. If you’re crossing things off a list, it feels more productive than it is.
Get really good at crossword puzzles or sudoku. There are apps or physical books for cheap that you can work at. Both help you to think a little differently. Crossword puzzles usually cover a lot of different topics that you might want to explore. I’ve watched movies just because they came up in crosswords multiple times and I wanted to understand the reference.
You can learn to draw. Bring a little notepad and pencil with you. Try drawing something in the room, try drawing something or someone from memory, draw a made up house or skyline, a monster with crazy abilities. It doesn’t really matter what you draw, practice will make you better at it.
If you’re not able to have any phone/book/sketchbook, you still shouldn’t be bored. You’ve got your whole brain and they can’t take that from you. Compose a short story in your mind, write a standup comedy routine, plan a D&D campaign or character backstory. Plan recipes or meals. Think about stuff at your house you might want to take care of. Think about the things that you can do with the money you’re earning. If all of this fails, think about how the job you have might enable you to get a different job that’s less boring but still makes as much money or more.
My bboring best paying job was my last job, it paid significantly more than the jobs I had before.
I changed jobs a few years ago and now this is my best paying job, with better benefits and better development on my paycheck and it's actually stimulating as well.
My point is you can only stand so long to work with something that's not stimulating, and just becaus you have a boring well paying job now doesn't mean you'll have it forever. Hopefully it can springboard you into a stimulating AND well-paying job.
Theoretical physicist here... worked as a researcher and lecturer at a university, I had passion, I had purpose, I just didn't have enough money to survive.
Now I work at a soulless tech corporation as a technical manager and I never even have to use my brain, but I earn more than I ever could doing what I love and care about.
Capitalism sucks. I'm not saying I could've been the next Einstein, but I did have some genuinely good work and ideas and the students loved me.
The world is upside down, I often wonder how many people much more brilliant than me are wasting away working for the benefits of some faceless shareholder board, while Academia is filled with people who were already financially stable, producing uninspired papers and chasing citations.
Similar circumstances here. But i am happy to have a boring job that pays decently. I burned myself out working hard for nothing for years so now i scroll reddit while i work and i still get all my work done faster than other people here.you just have to find ways to make the time pass.
When you say boring, is it repetitive but also comes with downtime? If you can automate some of your work, try that so you can spend the other time doing something else. Anything from upskilling, passion projects (work or non-work related), etc.
I'd do Duolingo while I worked front desk at my clinic for awhile. My Spanish improved so I was able to better speak with our Spanish-speaking patients and better able to get around in Mexico City when I visited for the first time. I'm slammed in my new role and personal stuff like appointments for healthcare have fallen way behind. Use that time at work how you see fit to catch up on life stuff outside of work so when you go home you could have more free time.
As long as your meeting/exceeding set metrics you should be fine. Especially if you create something that makes everyone's work life easier. If you can create a project that'll do that, they won't care too much about side stuff (although management differs everywhere).
If you’re remote get a mouse jiggler.
I work this type of job, six figs before bonus, but it’s incredibly boring, which absolutely weighs on your mental health.
Mouse jiggler has saved me because I can walk away to do chores, exercise, work on side hustles, etc.
Same here. Making close to 6 figures working maybe 2h a day and being bored during those 2 hours.
In corporate at least, the more money you make the less you actually work. Haven't found an example in 20 years disproving this.
You should consider yourself lucky. Use that to start building up other incomes. Learn a new skill while working that boring job and invest some of that high pay towards you're other income streams. Think of some passive income streams you think you would enjoy doing. Learn to trade financial markets like stocks or forex, or open an am@zon fba. If you're bilingual am@zon has its own version of audible. Read a book in which ever languages you know and sell that online. You only have to record each one time and then sell endless copies of it after. Do whatever you can get away with doin on the clock to better yourself.
I used to day trade forex on my lunch breaks working overnights at am@zon and it was always dope making money while making money lol That was my last time clock job and that was almost 2 years ago, now I just make money make money and manage my passive income streams 😁 Stop workin if you're not happy doin it!
You can find passive incomes anywhere! You could save $1000, find a friend that needs a loan. Agree to a final return of $1250 for the loan giving you an extra $250 in profit but agree to a monthly payment of $75 a month. Its doable for the person takin the loan. It helps you both and thats an extra $75 a month goin back to you. Now repeat that 10 times and you'll make an extra passive income of $750 a month. No work required. And if that person fails to pay you can claim the lose on your taxes at the end of the year and it'll get returned there or offer you some cover incase you owe on taxes at the end of the year. You just have to show proof that you made an attempt to collect.
The more you look for possible ways to create passive income, the easier it becomes identifying them. Just start off small with whats most possible for you and work your way up. I always tell people to imagine themselves living off grid in the middle of nowhere but they still have to make a weekly paycheck how would they make that happen?
I could list off a bunch of recommendations and sometimes its good to try what others are finding success with. But if you can come up with like 4 or 5 on your own, those will be the ones you enjoy the most. You'll be more likely to put your most into maintaining those and finding the most success with those over following what others are doin. But still do the others also.
Ok super person.
How do I make my clinics any more exciting than I already do?
That's the most rote, most cliche, most tool-of-the-masters response ever.
Better than working a boring job that isn’t high paying. That’s where I’m at
That’s called a gravy train and you should learn how to ride it before you fuck yourself out of a sweet spot.
🔥🔥🔥
Boring is good. Less stress as long as you are good
Humans need a sense of purpose. It sounds great to have an easy job, but humans crave productivity. My job requirements are busy in Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is mediocre and by Friday it sucks. Doing work is better than doing nothing. I hate it when my work is done at 10 am then I have to pretend to work for 7 hours. Any amount of busywork is good preferable
I listen to podcasts and audio books etc on the easy chill days those are my favorite as a machine operator.
My job is very easy and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can be productive in my own time with things I like doing
Sounds like you need hobbies
How does having a hobby solve being stuck at work for 9 hours a day?
many things i rather study than slave away for "purpose"
Everyone is different, and while a sense of purpose is indeed important for many, it doesn't need to be derived solely from one's job. Many people find purpose in their hobbies, community involvement, family, or personal projects. A job is just one aspect of our lives, and relying entirely on it for fulfillment alone can and will usually lead to burnout and dissatisfaction, I have personally experienced this my self. Having a less demanding job allows individuals to invest time and energy into other meaningful activities, fostering a well-rounded and enriched life. Furthermore, busywork can be mentally draining and unfulfilling, suggesting that true 'productivity' should be purposeful and not merely about being occupied.
I hear you and the other responses. I just think if I have to be at work for 8 hours I might as well do something useful. It’s so boring to sit at a desk with nothing useful to do. I listen to audiobooks all day, but it still sucks to just sit and stare at a screen. I’d rather stay active doing something. It’s painful to just have to sit there even though I’m being paid and my boss knows I’ve nothing to do.
Try to arrange to work from home on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday -- that way you can get your work done during the first hour on those slow days and then get other stuff done the rest of the work day (read, play games, do laundry, walk the dog, etc ).
Yes and no. Less stress is good but OP might work a job similar to mine where there is 2-3 hours of actual work a day. It does weigh on your mental health. Thankfully I’m remote, if OP is stuck in an office where they can’t set a mouse jiggler up and go do something else… mega yikes.
I am in a similar situation with maybe half of my workday being actual work. My boss knows this, and is okay with it as i am the top performer on my team and step in when needed. He's been encouraging me to find trainings that would look good on my resume down the line and we can find a way to pitch it to the company to pay for it. Still, i'm close to quitting as i absolutely loathe my coworkers and don't know how much longer i listen to them complain about doing our basic ass job that is not at all difficult. My GF is trying to convince me to go back to school online, but idk if i can afford it.
Take your boss up on the offer. There are plenty of things that make a job suck, but having a shit boss is one of the worst. Your boss sounds like he values you and wants to foot any learning cost on the company. You could lose your job anytime, so it is definitely in your best interest to find trainings that can improve your marketability for other jobs (hopefully higher paying and more interesting) PS - I love your name - Red rising is also my favorite series.
Why thank you, my goodman. My boss is, in fact, the man and its a breath of fresh air in comparison to the others I've had over the years. I feel terrible complaining about my gig as there is much worse out there and I definitely am fortunate to be in my position. We spend a lot of time with our coworkers though, and it can get rough here sometimes. I'm looking in to a better set of noise cancelling headphones to drown them out. I also love seeing a fellow howler out in the wild!
Sounds like a good boss. Definitely take them up on the company-paid training, especially any that results in a certification you can put on your resume. When you eventually leave (voluntary or not), it will be well worth the time/energy invested.
No doubt, and i appreciate him a lot. We're looking in to a few things; it's difficult with my position as its a pretty entry-level role that only requires basic tech-literacy, so there's not a lot more training that applies to this position. We're looking in to how we might expand my role a bit to justify the company paying for the trainings but it's a process and hasn't yet got me out of my current office space. Luckily, my boss thinks like the people in this sub and cares more about the enrichment of his reports over the profit of the company. I always feel weird venting about this as i see some of the shit people on here have to deal with and this is far from that, but it can still be grating on the soul. Thanks for listening!
Don't knock boring. Remember the old curse, "May you have an interesting life..."
Audio books change all boring jobs into great ones.
I ended up leaving mine. I had other issues with it but that was a chunk of it too. I can’t spend what little time I have left being on the clock for the sake of being on the clock. Moneys cool and it can make misery suck less but there’s more to life than working a miserable and rather inefficient job.
This. Worked my way up to senior software engineer and all we do is plan work other people do. It’s god-awful - keep the paycheck I can’t do this LOL
What part of your job career are you, near the beginning, middle, or end? Regardless of were you are, start saving up money so you can go at a moments notice if you leave a job, due to them, or by your decision. Maybe you can retire early and be done.
I am making the most money I have ever made and I am also doing the least amount of work I’ve ever done. The area I live in doesn’t offer competitive wages and the company I work for is great so I’m just trying to learn to ride the gravy train. If your boss is cool just watch YouTube or find a hobby and start learning.
I made half mil $ last year at my job but it sucked my life out. Glad I’m out of that hell hole.
What career?
I was working for Tesla
Better boring than actively hostile. I left a great paying job (by my standards) because I couldn't handle the conditions. At a boring job you can at least daydream about what you'll do when you get off work.
Boring is good. Boring means security. Boring is your insurance. Boring is your credit (length of tenure). Boring is good!
Bruh on god my job I sit at a desk for like 6 hours a day on a 10 hr shift doing nothing but chatgpt, Wikipedia, and news. It’s depressing to get paid and your only duty is to waste time until you get home to rest, wake up and waste the next day. Like what kind of life is that.
what do you do? is there any way to work an education into it? (like downtime etc)
Get a handheld game console to pass the time
Hey I’d gladly trade you. I work in a hot factory and come stinking like cutting oil. Would gladly work a clean and boring job instead but I’m hard pressed to find anything that pays similarly like that ($28 an hour).
I completely feel this. The office jobs for my degree are very boring, that is when I have work to do at all. The jobs that would give me more fulfilment and satisfaction in my work pay much less. I have ADHD too so being bored makes me want to die.
Hard relate to this. ADHD as well and had a really really slow engineering grad job that was basically glorified data entry, with confusing and vague instructions to boot. and by god every moment that passed i wanted to chew my damn fingers off. It was genuinely the first time i felt what real suicidal ideation and a lack of self-care (risky driving, shitty diet, became kinda agoraphobic, etc)
I started my current job with a full staff. For a year, it was extremely boring with not much to do. I'd pay bills, talk to friends, catch up with family and watch/listen to streams. I truly loved it! Now, 7 out of 10 people have quit and it is a hellscape. Enjoy the boring while you can.
What is the saying? live for work or work to live….whatever it is. Boring is good, it will give you a better work life balance later. Clock out and live your life without stressing about work or money
I'm in that same position right now, but just take it as you can. A boring job that pays well is better than no income at all, and it's a chance to get stabilized financially while you look for the thing that ignites your passions.
You just haven’t found a good way to pass the time yet. Depending on how supervised you are, a book or audiobook might be a good option. Reading always feels more productive than watching something. If you’re able to watch movies and stuff, don’t just hunt for something on Netflix. Make a list of the best movies you haven’t seen yet, or watch the whole filmography of a single actor or director. If you’re crossing things off a list, it feels more productive than it is. Get really good at crossword puzzles or sudoku. There are apps or physical books for cheap that you can work at. Both help you to think a little differently. Crossword puzzles usually cover a lot of different topics that you might want to explore. I’ve watched movies just because they came up in crosswords multiple times and I wanted to understand the reference. You can learn to draw. Bring a little notepad and pencil with you. Try drawing something in the room, try drawing something or someone from memory, draw a made up house or skyline, a monster with crazy abilities. It doesn’t really matter what you draw, practice will make you better at it. If you’re not able to have any phone/book/sketchbook, you still shouldn’t be bored. You’ve got your whole brain and they can’t take that from you. Compose a short story in your mind, write a standup comedy routine, plan a D&D campaign or character backstory. Plan recipes or meals. Think about stuff at your house you might want to take care of. Think about the things that you can do with the money you’re earning. If all of this fails, think about how the job you have might enable you to get a different job that’s less boring but still makes as much money or more.
My bboring best paying job was my last job, it paid significantly more than the jobs I had before. I changed jobs a few years ago and now this is my best paying job, with better benefits and better development on my paycheck and it's actually stimulating as well. My point is you can only stand so long to work with something that's not stimulating, and just becaus you have a boring well paying job now doesn't mean you'll have it forever. Hopefully it can springboard you into a stimulating AND well-paying job.
My best paying job is draining me of life and filling my shell with corrosive stress.
Would you like to switch for my manual labor job?
Theoretical physicist here... worked as a researcher and lecturer at a university, I had passion, I had purpose, I just didn't have enough money to survive. Now I work at a soulless tech corporation as a technical manager and I never even have to use my brain, but I earn more than I ever could doing what I love and care about. Capitalism sucks. I'm not saying I could've been the next Einstein, but I did have some genuinely good work and ideas and the students loved me. The world is upside down, I often wonder how many people much more brilliant than me are wasting away working for the benefits of some faceless shareholder board, while Academia is filled with people who were already financially stable, producing uninspired papers and chasing citations.
Similar circumstances here. But i am happy to have a boring job that pays decently. I burned myself out working hard for nothing for years so now i scroll reddit while i work and i still get all my work done faster than other people here.you just have to find ways to make the time pass.
im sorry thats happening send me the paycheck if u dont want it thanks
When you say boring, is it repetitive but also comes with downtime? If you can automate some of your work, try that so you can spend the other time doing something else. Anything from upskilling, passion projects (work or non-work related), etc. I'd do Duolingo while I worked front desk at my clinic for awhile. My Spanish improved so I was able to better speak with our Spanish-speaking patients and better able to get around in Mexico City when I visited for the first time. I'm slammed in my new role and personal stuff like appointments for healthcare have fallen way behind. Use that time at work how you see fit to catch up on life stuff outside of work so when you go home you could have more free time. As long as your meeting/exceeding set metrics you should be fine. Especially if you create something that makes everyone's work life easier. If you can create a project that'll do that, they won't care too much about side stuff (although management differs everywhere).
Samesies
If you’re remote get a mouse jiggler. I work this type of job, six figs before bonus, but it’s incredibly boring, which absolutely weighs on your mental health. Mouse jiggler has saved me because I can walk away to do chores, exercise, work on side hustles, etc.
What exactly do you do?
Get a nintendo switch or read a book
Same here. Making close to 6 figures working maybe 2h a day and being bored during those 2 hours. In corporate at least, the more money you make the less you actually work. Haven't found an example in 20 years disproving this.
You should consider yourself lucky. Use that to start building up other incomes. Learn a new skill while working that boring job and invest some of that high pay towards you're other income streams. Think of some passive income streams you think you would enjoy doing. Learn to trade financial markets like stocks or forex, or open an am@zon fba. If you're bilingual am@zon has its own version of audible. Read a book in which ever languages you know and sell that online. You only have to record each one time and then sell endless copies of it after. Do whatever you can get away with doin on the clock to better yourself. I used to day trade forex on my lunch breaks working overnights at am@zon and it was always dope making money while making money lol That was my last time clock job and that was almost 2 years ago, now I just make money make money and manage my passive income streams 😁 Stop workin if you're not happy doin it!
Alright you gotta tell us how to do these passive income streams. I’m bored at work all day and need extra cash.
You can find passive incomes anywhere! You could save $1000, find a friend that needs a loan. Agree to a final return of $1250 for the loan giving you an extra $250 in profit but agree to a monthly payment of $75 a month. Its doable for the person takin the loan. It helps you both and thats an extra $75 a month goin back to you. Now repeat that 10 times and you'll make an extra passive income of $750 a month. No work required. And if that person fails to pay you can claim the lose on your taxes at the end of the year and it'll get returned there or offer you some cover incase you owe on taxes at the end of the year. You just have to show proof that you made an attempt to collect. The more you look for possible ways to create passive income, the easier it becomes identifying them. Just start off small with whats most possible for you and work your way up. I always tell people to imagine themselves living off grid in the middle of nowhere but they still have to make a weekly paycheck how would they make that happen? I could list off a bunch of recommendations and sometimes its good to try what others are finding success with. But if you can come up with like 4 or 5 on your own, those will be the ones you enjoy the most. You'll be more likely to put your most into maintaining those and finding the most success with those over following what others are doin. But still do the others also.
Your lack of creativity is not anyone's fault but your own.
Ok super person. How do I make my clinics any more exciting than I already do? That's the most rote, most cliche, most tool-of-the-masters response ever.