Behind the Boring Tasks Are Hidden Opportunities for Growth
Performing boring tasks will feel like punishment until you learn to reframe them to your advantage
Online, I’m a newbie writer; Offline, I’m an experienced manufacturing engineer.
Regardless of my level of experience, I hate doing “basic” tasks (any tasks that are repetitive and do not require thinking) because I find them to be boring. When you do something boring, the day feels much longer than it is. It would’ve been great if I could delegate the tasks to someone else. But as someone who doesn’t lead a team, I don’t have much choice but to suck it up.
Doing these tasks is annoying, but learning to deal with that feeling is the training you need to:
- Think more logically
- Keep Shiny Object Syndrome at bay
- Recognize your ego (when working with a team)
- Convert boredom to a brainstorming session
This is what I realized as I traced back to the reasons why I became a less bitchy employee.
Think more logically
There are two ways to deal with doing something that annoys you: learn how to like it or do something else.
Now, as an employee, the chances of “doing something else” are very slim. And so, I have to figure out a way, not to like what I’m doing but to be ok with it. I do that by keeping my negative feelings (anger, frustration, disgust, etc.) from coming out. The longer I can keep the negative feelings from leaking out, the more I act logically (not emotionally).
That’s important to remember if you want to display professionalism.
Not sure if you noticed, but kids typically think and act with their emotions. They tend to pull tantrums that don’t make a lot of sense. Therefore, the more I avoid acting out of my emotions, the more “professional” I would look to others.
Now, this isn’t to say that you should do whatever you’re asked to do. I’m sure you’re old enough to use your own judgment. All I’m saying is it’s not smart to pull a tantrum because you’re given a boring task.
Keep the Shiny Object Syndrome at bay
“Boring” is when there’s no improvement in your journey that is worth noticing.
Our natural tendency to address this is to find something else that would give us more excitement. Such is the gift of the Shiny Object Syndrome — it keeps things exciting, but it doesn’t move you closer to your goal. Now, this wouldn’t be the case if you train yourself to stick through the boredom at least long enough to get you the traction you need to get to the next level.
The longer you survive the boredom, the less distracted you will be, and the higher your chances of getting the result you are looking for.
Recognize your ego (when working with a team)
At my 9–5 job, whenever I’m assigned a boring task, I can’t help but wonder, “Why don’t you (my boss) delegate this to someone else who is less experienced?”
My ego tells me that my time is better spent somewhere else. That’s because getting assigned a “boring” task dismisses my 15+ years of experience! But that’s where the “ego check” comes in. Thinking that way dismisses the fact that I’m part of the team, not the team.
Today, whenever I get triggered (from getting assigned a boring task), I also use it as a trigger to remind myself: The boring task has less to do with my skills and more about utilizing the available resources of the team.
P.S. Don’t be like Tim [meme here]
Convert boredom to a brainstorming session
Whenever you are doing something “boring”, chances are you’re not doing a lot of thinking.
The mental energy (you typically use to focus on challenging tasks) can be used to assess opportunities for improvement. I’m sure you’ve had those times when you are daydreaming while working. Instead of daydreaming (which happens unconsciously), why not use it to either plan or think of solutions to make you more productive?
Doing that a few times allowed me to take initiative (by proposing new tools and other improvement solutions for my team). Please note that the ideas don’t need to be brilliant. The goal is to exercise your ability to be creative while doing something that has a low risk of failing.
It took me a while to realize these growth opportunities (behind boredom) because I believe that: Boring is easy, and easy doesn’t make you grow.
That’s what’s prompting me to bitch whenever I’m forced to do the boring stuff. However, after a while, I changed the way I view them because of these ideas that took me years to realize. But (again) use your own judgment because there are cases where your time is better spent on the more important stuff.
It doesn’t make sense to get a doctor to do janitorial stuff…right?
