A simple method of decreasing boredom and increasing energy during repetitive tasks..
When I was in college, I did some seasonal work for a small Insurance firm. The work involved stuffing envelopes with personalized insurance policies for the company’s clients. It was there I learned the “non-break break” method from an older college student, Rick, who was also working as a temp for them.
Anyone who has ever stuffed envelopes can probably relate to how it works. You stack each page of the packet in sequential order around a table and you walk around the table taking one sheet out of each pile until you get to the end. Then you staple and grab an envelope and stuff the packet inside.
Every 1/2 hour or so, Jim would say “Hey, you wanna take a break from this and go unbox b2b forms?”
At first I thought, “That is hardly a break. Unboxing forms is work with another paintjob on it.”
After many of these ‘breaks’ the benefits started to sink in. Shifting gears during the repetitive tasks led to more energy and less boredom. In other words, it made work a bit more enjoyable.
Also, I should point out that when you take a ‘break’ and do something less desirable than the boring task you are currently doing, you start to look forward to the ‘break’ to be over. For instance, we’d sometimes take a ‘break’ and unload 50 lb. Boxes from delivery trucks and have to move them into the staging area. After moving 10-15 boxes, I started thinking it will be great to get back to stuffing envelopes.
So if you find yourself undertaking an undesirable or boring task, try sprinkling in some “non-break breaks” where you have to do something even less enjoyable. If you have a routine report to write and you plan a break where you will Windex your desk or clean out one of the drawers of your desk, you might start hoping for break to be over sooner than later.
By the way, if you are wondering how Rick’s life turned out, last I talked to him; he was a VP for a national bank. In fact, he helped finance my first house. So his work philosophy has done well for him.
Technorati Tags: productivity, gtd, work, success
If you like this post, please add to your del.icio.us
Related Posts:
-
The 5-Minute Productivity Breakthrough
-
How-to Set Up Productivity Triggers to Get More Done
-
Next post: woot! fans can get the B.O.C. business style
