A boring process can be made much more enjoyable if you can find some fun in it. It’s inevitable that these tasks will come our way. Rather than accept their dullness, why not get creative and try to find a way to make more stimulating?
I’m reminded of my work as an office temp. As a student, I was looking to make some money and I understood that whatever work I could get would likely be dull.
“Meet the extraction machine, Ken,” I was told by the banking supervisor at my assignment for the week. The extraction machine was designed to open up credit card payment statements sent in by customers.
Operating the machine was quite simple. You would feed in the mail and then wait as two suction cups would grasp the envelope, and then pull it open. I would then jump into action and remove the enclosed statement and check. I would also throw out the envelope.
There wasn’t a lot of excitement to this process. I looked around at the other people working on the machines and most appeared to be unconscious. I can only daydream so much, so I knew that I needed to find a way to make the day more enjoyable.
Eventually, I found something that was amusing, fun, and maybe a little sneaky. I was going through a very high volume of mail. I noticed that the Post Office wasn’t perfect when it came to putting cancellations on stamps. Stamps that a poor student could conceivably rip off the envelope, pocket, and later glue onto envelopes of my own.
At this point, I should say that I realize that the recycling of postage is frowned upon by the Post Office and perhaps my act started the billion dollar deficit that haunts the agency today. But it gave me a little project to focus on during an otherwise dull day.
Not only did it end up putting some extra money into my pocket but the concentration needed to look for the free postage made me work faster and more effectively. Back then I was working a four hour shift and earning a minimum wage that was between three and four dollars. One day, I “earned” more than $15 dollars in postage. Keep in mind that this was a time when email was not around and stamp prices were lower.
I don’t think anyone ever noticed my caper, although by the end of the day, my dress shirt pocket appeared much fuller.
Adding a mental game to a dull task will make you more productive. Perhaps it is an hourly goal, counting a random thing, or mentally trying to only speak in a foreign language. Our brains like a workout and sometimes you need to get creative in order to keep them in shape.
