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Do you stay busy at your job?
I have been at my job since January. The girl I replaced did not have a degree so they said they knew it would take time to find more things for me to do since I would be able to complete the work she used to do faster. It was fine when I first started and was training on a lot. Now I am at the point where a lot of days I am bored with absolutely nothing. Like right now, I've finished pretty much all my projects for the month. I am constantly telling my boss I need more to do and she said they are working on finding stuff but most likely nothing will happen for a month or two.
I love the company I work for and have told myself I'll stay here at least a year and hope something opens up in another dept. Otherwise I will probably look for other work.
My fear though is that what if I leave this company, and go somewhere and am in the same boat. I know I'm a fast worker and I try to take my time on what I am given to make sure I am doing it accurately. But all I want in a job is one that challenges me and keeps me busy. I love my job and the work that I do, I just wish there was more of it!
Re: Do you stay busy at your job?
Due to the nature of my job, there is either too much and I am overwhelmed or there is "nothing" to do. Also due to the nature of it I will not be able to get more responsibilities. I also receive comments such as "Wow, you got that done fast!"
Do you enjoy the nature of your work? Do you think you just need a more active office?
It's rare to find a job that's keeping you busy all.the.time. I work in a very cyclical field, where we can have a big project that requires a ton of concentrated effort over a period of time, and we also have slow times (especially around holidays) where we have very little to do. And it's not just me, it might be a whole team.
In some ways it's on you. You need to find those back-burner projects that you can keep for when times are slow and you have the time to fiddle with them. Or look for ways you can improve office flow/efficiency and the projects that can make that happen.
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Keeping busy at work has been an issue for me in pretty well every job I've ever had. I'm also a pretty fast worker so often I find myself trying to find things to do to stay busy.
My last two jobs were in medical/clinical settings where I had a patient caseload each day but even then I'd find myself with a lot of downtime because I would finish with my reports or billing in about 1/4 of the time that it took everyone else. In December I switched gears and moved into education, even though I'm still in the same profession. I find that I do have quite a bit more downtime to fill since I don't have a regular patient schedule anymore but I try to use my time constructively and do online seminars or read current research articles to stay abreast of what's going on in my field. Obviously this may not be applicable to everyone but I find that it's a good and valid use of my time.
The best advice I ever got from a mentor was that every employee should have at least 3 white papers in their back pocket. If you're bored with work or can't find anything to "do", find things to "think". Write position papers, develop new processes, write articles about what you do, etc. Challenge yourself by finding the next challenge.
I made a career change to teaching two years ago. I completely agree with what you wrote! Previously, I worked in a couple of positions in which I finished my work for the day in about two hours. Teaching has been a welcome change.
Ditto. I'm a teacher and in go mode all 10 hours or more of my work day. Then I get home and there's always more I could be doing! The days are long but go quick!
I am never bored at my job. My job is challenging and the work load is intense.
If I find I have room open in my calendar then I look for the next project.
If no one was giving me work or asking for my help, then I'd start worrying about whether I was able to add value to my company. Because if I want to remain employed, I need to be productive and contributing to the company's bottom line.
I've had jobs in the past in which I have been bored and it is the most frustrating feeling to know that I have to physically be there even though I could be using my time more productively elsewhere (clean house, volunteer, leisure time, whatever).
It sounds like you are asking for more work and not getting any. Perhaps another option is to look for areas that need improvement and then pitch to your manager that you would like to spend some of your time working on it. Could be a process that can be streamlined, some old documents that need updating, organizing team builders...there are many options. But the point is that maybe you can seek out the opportunities rather than ask someone to hand them to you. Kudos for trying, however!
I always thought about teaching but I dont want to go back to school again and I like how much money I make
I think it's a little arrogant or misguided to insinuate that having a degree makes one a fast worker. I never finished my B.A. but I am the fastest and most efficient worker in my office.
If you need a challenge and you aren't getting it, either ask for a larger workload or start looking elsewhere for a job that actually fits your needs.
I am never bored for more than a few minutes. I get restless and either I start talking to my coworkers or I ask them if they need help with anything. Sometimes I just snoop around and read up on some accounts I've been working on, or I'll contemplate ways to change processes or stay organized better.
Sometimes I'll just sit and draw a picture and plan my grocery list for the week.
I never just get bored though. It's not my nature.
There are times I am not busy (right now) and there are times that I'm so busy I can't even get lunch at my job.
I used to get bored allll the time because I worked way too fast. Even after slowing down I was still too fast and this turned into "Hey she's a fast worker, make her do your filing/mailings/data entry." You know, teh things they would make interns do because no one else wants to do it (including me... I didn't go to college to do everyone else's filing, just my own!!)
So, I slowed down a little more. My stress (and amount of papercuts) has gone waaaaaay down, even though I still have a ton of work (like 2 people's jobs), I'm better at balancing it out and I still get things done well before the deadline. Work is enjoyable because I still constantly have things to do, and I'm not as burnt out as I was when I got everything done SUPER LIGHTNING FAST!
So yeah, I stay busy, because I made adjustments so that I could have a tolerable workload and still stay busy. This also means when I come back from vacation I only feel like pulling out SOME of my hair (as opposed to all of it, lol).
I work in a facility where business has dropped off dramatically, expecially during the night (which is the shifts I work). There really isn't much to do during business hours so I did my best to stay busy.
I would do my homework (while I was still in school), I work on my languages, or lots of times I bring a book to read. As long as you're there when customers come in, they really couldn't care what you did during the lull times.