I read posts about people quitting jobs because they're boring or there is not much to do and I don't get it: what's wrong with being paid for doing nothing or not much at all?
Examples I can think of: being paid to be present but only working 30 minutes to 2 hours every 8 hours, or a job where you have to work 5 minutes every 30 minutes.
What's wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone... and going home to enjoy your hobbies fully rested?
Am I missing something?
What’s wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone
The jobs people complain about tend to penalize them for doing those things instead of pretending to be busy.
Exactly this. If I could occupy myself it would be great. Being paid to sit and stare at walls is a way to induce madness.
Truly I tell you, no matter what you were paid, you would scream to leave.
Exactly. I had a shitty call centre job and would attempt to read during downtime but would be told no.
I’m not one to take that so I would push back saying so you want me to sit here and possibly zone out, rather than remain alert by reading. They wanted the former.
The other reason we want to be busy is because times goes faster.
There's a big difference between like "working at a cash register with no customers, but you have to stand there looking attentive or management will yell at you" and "working from home, and I can read lemmy on downtime"
Because 90% of jobs don't just let you do leisure activities on the clock and doing literally anything makes time go faster than sitting around doing literally nothing.
It's existentially dreadful.
Wasting your life commuting just to sit in a chair for 8 hours only to get paid barely enough to pay your bills for existing in the first place is a convoluted prison when you know that you have so much more potential, which again is also hindered by the same mechanisms that allowed you to turn on the TV and pretend that you lived today.
Sometimes you need to break out of the comfort zone and find another job or take some risks by stirring up trouble where you are. It usually pays off better to do so either way, instead of pretending that the comfortable job gives any kind of job security. There's really no such thing as a stable job. You only work somewhere until you don't.
This book speaks to it better than I can: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-bullshit-jobs/
Specifically take a look at
Chapter 3: Why Do Those in Bullshit Jobs Regularly Report Themselves Unhappy? (On Spiritual Violence, Part 1)
I'm still in the beginning of my programming career (maybe also the end, looking at how AI is going, lmao) and at my previous job I had fuckall to do. I spent nearly a year without a project, working basically 30 minutes a day. I quit mainly because I was afraid that when I change jobs I will have say 5 years experience on paper, but the knowledge for 1, because I've barely done anything.
Work isn't always about money, you also want to learn stuff so you can make even more money in the future. You can't really do that if you get paid to watch Youtube all day.
That's a big thing for tech jobs, especially with the relatively low security. If you're not working you're not learning, and if you're not learning you're behind the curve and seen as "less valuable".
Especially with how specific job postings are, if you don't have the right combination of experience, you're worthless. So if you're bored maintaining some ancient irrelevant stack, you're worse off.
This is me. I want a different job because I'm always bored.
It feels meaningless. I'm pushing papers because someone needs papers pushed. Part of my job is actually incredibly useful, but 90% of it is it just me pretending to work by watching YouTube videos so my screen doesn't go dark and I can make sure I'm not showing as Away in Teams.
It's a government job too, so it's unlikely I'll be replaced by AI despite AI being perfect for replacing me and my colleagues.
I don't know if you're complaining but if you are, I don't understand you. I want to be you.
earning money doing almost nothing is meaningless? You earn money for doing nothing! and you cannot be fired, so...
but 90% of it is it just me pretending to work by watching YouTube videos so my screen doesn't go dark and I can make sure I'm not showing as Away in Teams.
Get a hardware mouse jiggler! I bought one for my partner as a gag gift during the start of the Pandemic, but it's seriously improved their mental health. Taking naps, reading books, and writing all became possible with next to zero risk. Just get Teams to ping your phone when you get a new message.
I used to work at a gas station during the night shift. I got yelled at for reading because "I was being unproductive." Everything got done hours before my shift ended and no one in the morning ever complained. I started doing my work slower, wandered around pretending to sweep, and read in the backroom where they didn't have cameras and my manager thought I turned over a new leaf.
My job performance was considered better when I was away from my station dicking about looking busy compared to doing everything efficiently and reading while ready to deal with customers.
What's wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone...
Ask your manager. They'll probably say something like "it looks untidy".
I see a lot of posts about people becoming depressed because they feel like they have nothing to do and therefore feel useless, but I just can't relate. My last job pushed harder and harder to make sure we were busy at all times and the constant rush along with it never being enough for middle management to be happy was what made me depressed. I would have killed for downtime to actually breathe.
I’ve worked in jobs with plenty of downtime, but have never worked in one where I could just wander off to exercise or read a book openly. I was expected to be finding things to do or to at least appear busy and engaged.
good point, this changes the calculus
I'm getting both bored and anxious if I don't have anything useful to do during work hours. I don't think it's my work ethics in the play, but self imposed expectations. When this happens too much too often, is when the work no longer feels "fun" and I have to find something meaningful to do again.
Now I'm very privileged in that my current employer's been very good with the opportunities within, and I've always found another position (and promotion) to challenge myself again.
But I think many people expect their work to be interesting, feeling meaningful personally, and if it fails to do so it's time to move. It's crapton of your week anyways you need to spend on the "grind" it would suck if it felt wasted time.
I used to be bored at work as I had too much downtime, so I decided to just accept more duties. Was nice to be able to solve problems learn new things and it made the time go faster. But you just keep getting more and more work and responsibilities heaped on you for doing a good job, and absolutely nobody notices it until you start falling apart. Then all of a sudden people you’ve never heard of are ‘concerned’ about you. At this point I am burnt out and do even less work than when I was bored, but the difference is that it also drains me.
The lesson is to never try to work at or around full capacity. Don’t fall into the trap of being bored and deciding to take on more work.
What’s wrong with reading a book, writing poetry or a novel, exercising, playing with the smartphone… and going home to enjoy your hobbies fully rested?
I tried doing these sorts of things and was punished for it. If I can’t find work to do, then the only thing I’m allowed to do is stand (not sit) at my station until something happens.
I know work bad but if I don't keep busy, time crawls. Also, theoretically I would have bosses find me shittier jobs to do if I'm not engaged in the main thing I'm there to do.
I've never had a job that there was a lot of downtime except that time I worked for a landscaping company. My boss was chill and we smoked a ton of weed between jobs
