Boring repetitive jobs
Discussion
With the advent of TV programs like "How it's Made" it is noticeable that there are still some really repetitive and boring jobs out there.
My working life has been varied and I am fortunate that I can choose what I do an when, most of the time.
I am curious how those that have a boring repetitive job (or think that their job is boring and repetitive) deal with that boredom? How do you get through the week/year?
Over to the PH population.
My working life has been varied and I am fortunate that I can choose what I do an when, most of the time.
I am curious how those that have a boring repetitive job (or think that their job is boring and repetitive) deal with that boredom? How do you get through the week/year?
Over to the PH population.
Years ago as a student I worked at al electrics factory over the summer hols.
Initially they put me on an assembly line to replace one of the regular workers who was off on holiday. The rest of the line were women who could do the work and chat away to each other at the same time. Could I keep up, could I f
k, I was hopless, slow, got stuff wrong...
They moved me to the computer test rig where all the completed boards were plugged in to soak and test. If one didn't work you had to find the dug component or dry joint and fix it. I was good at that ... But bloody useless at the assembly line.
Initially they put me on an assembly line to replace one of the regular workers who was off on holiday. The rest of the line were women who could do the work and chat away to each other at the same time. Could I keep up, could I f
k, I was hopless, slow, got stuff wrong...They moved me to the computer test rig where all the completed boards were plugged in to soak and test. If one didn't work you had to find the dug component or dry joint and fix it. I was good at that ... But bloody useless at the assembly line.
Over the years I have been to a number of factories in the UK and Europe producing machinery. It was noticeable that the closer the job to the raw material the more boring the job.
On the assembly line swapping jobs seemed quite common as a way of relieving the boredom but the chap that punched some holes in a little bit of metal every 5 seconds with is foot operated machine had been doing it for years!
One difference between the UK and most countries in Europe was that the workers in Europe usually had a second job (often a very small farm) that they probably inherited. The factory job is necessary to enable them to keep the "family" farm.
Helps to make the boredom bearable.
On the assembly line swapping jobs seemed quite common as a way of relieving the boredom but the chap that punched some holes in a little bit of metal every 5 seconds with is foot operated machine had been doing it for years!
One difference between the UK and most countries in Europe was that the workers in Europe usually had a second job (often a very small farm) that they probably inherited. The factory job is necessary to enable them to keep the "family" farm.
Helps to make the boredom bearable.
In a summer holiday after first year of uni, I took a temp job in a box factory. My job was to press the corners of the flat pack box together forming a square, then pass it to the next guy who would fold the bottom up. I didn't make it past first break.
Always been amazed by those who are happy to clock in at 9, out at 5 and never once engage their brain in between. Would drive me absolutely mental, very quickly.
Always been amazed by those who are happy to clock in at 9, out at 5 and never once engage their brain in between. Would drive me absolutely mental, very quickly.
I spent 10 weeks working on the production line at JLR Solihull recently, making the new Jaguar XE...I say making, but most of the jobs us temps were doing were squirting very, very sticky sealant onto various metal parts to stop water ingres and consequent electrolytic corrosion between aluminium and steel bits...or drilling holes and sticking rivnuts in them. I absolutely loved it most of the time because I saw the finished product driving and parked all round the site and I still get s silly cheesy grin on my face when I see an XE. I met a great bunch of people and we had some really good laughs most of the time. The ultra modern facility is pretty quiet as factories go so you can have proper conversations and most people were only there for the cash and were quite intelligent and able to hold a conversation. Yeah, it could get tedious, but the thing that got me the worst was the pain in my feet! I'd go back tomorrow on proper wages like the permanent staff get.
Part time job I had whilst at college.
A local records management company was computerising their storage. This involved sticking a barcode on the box and the scanning the shelf to log it's location. There were literally over a million boxes. In 2 warehouses. There was 2 of us, both students. Shame he thought the job was beneath him and dragged his heels, so I spent most of the day on my own. Listening to my Walkman. I just thought about the money and how it was paying for my first car insurance and fuel.
(The petrol head in me loved finding Tyyrell F1 boxes. Just boring accounts stuff. Though I did end up going to their factory once to deliver some boxes they'd requested. Look how small it was http://binged.it/1Hhpah3 compared to the might of McLaren http://binged.it/1HhpDjd )
A local records management company was computerising their storage. This involved sticking a barcode on the box and the scanning the shelf to log it's location. There were literally over a million boxes. In 2 warehouses. There was 2 of us, both students. Shame he thought the job was beneath him and dragged his heels, so I spent most of the day on my own. Listening to my Walkman. I just thought about the money and how it was paying for my first car insurance and fuel.
(The petrol head in me loved finding Tyyrell F1 boxes. Just boring accounts stuff. Though I did end up going to their factory once to deliver some boxes they'd requested. Look how small it was http://binged.it/1Hhpah3 compared to the might of McLaren http://binged.it/1HhpDjd )
I work at Tesco as a delivery driver.
I do the same thing day in day out, it drives me mad, but it pays the bills, it's close to home (out of bed at 7:40, at work for 8), I'm never late home, no stress what's so ever. If I get stuck in traffic i just bring any deliveries back and someone will do them later.
I keep going as its only temporary (although I said that eight years ago) until I can join the police full time.
I am also a Special Constable which fills the boredom massively. It's something different every day and most importantly, I feel at times I've made a difference to someone's life.
I do the same thing day in day out, it drives me mad, but it pays the bills, it's close to home (out of bed at 7:40, at work for 8), I'm never late home, no stress what's so ever. If I get stuck in traffic i just bring any deliveries back and someone will do them later.
I keep going as its only temporary (although I said that eight years ago) until I can join the police full time.
I am also a Special Constable which fills the boredom massively. It's something different every day and most importantly, I feel at times I've made a difference to someone's life.
A few of my super boring repetitive brain mushing jobs I have done in the past 15 years..
Watching labels being printed all day long..
Making up card board boxes all day long..
Packing boxes all day long..
Working in a fudge factory weighing up mixes one after another all day long..
Driving hundreds of motorway miles in some st 1L rental car all day long..
To now where I am a self employed gardener which is still pretty boring and repetitive but slightly less boring and repetitve than the above!!
I have met quite a lot of people who have been stuck at the above places for years upon years and hell the feck they do it I just don't know.
No I don't own a Jag lol
Watching labels being printed all day long..
Making up card board boxes all day long..
Packing boxes all day long..
Working in a fudge factory weighing up mixes one after another all day long..
Driving hundreds of motorway miles in some s
t 1L rental car all day long..To now where I am a self employed gardener which is still pretty boring and repetitive but slightly less boring and repetitve than the above!!
I have met quite a lot of people who have been stuck at the above places for years upon years and hell the feck they do it I just don't know.
No I don't own a Jag lol
A good few years ago the firm I worked for did a lot of work for Phones 4 U. There property had grown to the size where it was appropriate to put in an Estates Management computer system.
6 of us camped up in Stoke on Trent reading leases back to back for 5 days Needed to concentrate as all similar, but the devil is in the detail...
I've never liked Stoke since....
6 of us camped up in Stoke on Trent reading leases back to back for 5 days Needed to concentrate as all similar, but the devil is in the detail...
I've never liked Stoke since....
Pothole said:
I spent 10 weeks working on the production line at JLR Solihull recently, making the new Jaguar XE...I say making, but most of the jobs us temps were doing were squirting very, very sticky sealant onto various metal parts to stop water ingres and consequent electrolytic corrosion between aluminium and steel bits...or drilling holes and sticking rivnuts in them. I absolutely loved it most of the time because I saw the finished product driving and parked all round the site and I still get s silly cheesy grin on my face when I see an XE. I met a great bunch of people and we had some really good laughs most of the time. The ultra modern facility is pretty quiet as factories go so you can have proper conversations and most people were only there for the cash and were quite intelligent and able to hold a conversation. Yeah, it could get tedious, but the thing that got me the worst was the pain in my feet! I'd go back tomorrow on proper wages like the permanent staff get.
I was there last summer working in company quality. Any time I spent down in the factories were mind-numbing, particularly the fact that you work on one station and that's it!I wouldn't, however, mind being one of the chaps on the Defender line.
One of my warehouse jobs ages ago: I had to remove the light sensitive selenium drums (in a laser printer) from their box, and wrap a piece of black wax paper around it and put it back in. No idea why, as the boxes themselves were light proof, and only became exposed to light when I opened them to wrap paper around them so they wouldn't be damaged by the light...
Having said that, working at warehouses taught me some practical stuff that was useful.
Having said that, working at warehouses taught me some practical stuff that was useful.
I used to work in a factory whose main contract was Elemis. Hugely expensive beauty products. You'd never expect how they were packed and in what quantities they were wasted! Huge markup on the product? For sure.
We used to get seconds given out for free. Seconds being minor issues with presentation - screwcap wonky, tiny dent in bottle. These things would sell in retail for over £100 and they were giving them out to us minimum wage workers like they were 10p crisps.
Terribly boring job. Lasted a few weeks before I decided I'd had enough of Terry Wogan every morning. I could probably handle the work since there were a few interesting characters there but Wogan being blasted out on the radio every morning is another thing entirely.
We used to get seconds given out for free. Seconds being minor issues with presentation - screwcap wonky, tiny dent in bottle. These things would sell in retail for over £100 and they were giving them out to us minimum wage workers like they were 10p crisps.
Terribly boring job. Lasted a few weeks before I decided I'd had enough of Terry Wogan every morning. I could probably handle the work since there were a few interesting characters there but Wogan being blasted out on the radio every morning is another thing entirely.
I worked in a steel factory, bending steel. The first month was hard but after that the days flowed, it was very repetitive and boring but never really thought about it.
I worked in a chicken killing plant, and used to watch the people thru the window, now that job was repetitive, 300k birds killed a day and dicing and slicing them.
I worked in a chicken killing plant, and used to watch the people thru the window, now that job was repetitive, 300k birds killed a day and dicing and slicing them.
Edited by The Spruce goose on Friday 30th October 22:26
Back in 97 I worked for a display company. Me and a mate had to de burr 20,000 aluminium tubes each with scotch brite, once around each end and then place in a sleeve.
we had some great conversations, one of which was "one day you'll look back on this and realise it's the sttiest, most boring job ever". Every time we bump into each other the conversation always veers towards those days spent standing up, de burring alufkingminium tubes for 3.50 per fking hour.
We both jacked in after a week and around tube number 3,487 , give or take.
we had some great conversations, one of which was "one day you'll look back on this and realise it's the s
ttiest, most boring job ever". Every time we bump into each other the conversation always veers towards those days spent standing up, de burring alufkingminium tubes for 3.50 per fking hour.We both jacked in after a week and around tube number 3,487 , give or take.
I'm a RM collection driver. I drive the same route and collect mail from the same businesses and boxes every day. But the small talk with the receptionists keep things interesting. No stress what so ever.
But 4hrs of overtime this morning sorting small packets into area codes can get a tad brain numbing.
But 4hrs of overtime this morning sorting small packets into area codes can get a tad brain numbing.
When I worked in facilities as a scheduler it was pretty much the same thing every call but it involved about 10mins of mouse clicking after every one due to the annoying slowness of the system. So I automated the lot of it with a python script and in turn made the job even more boring ha!
Issi said:
I've always thought that being a dentist would be really boring.
I suspect it is, but my son is one and the £90k+ he earns helps to compensate.By the time he is 40 he will be able to do a lot less as he is already buying his first practice at 28yrs old. The aim is to add another every 4 years.
Storer said:
I suspect it is, but my son is one and the £90k+ he earns helps to compensate.
By the time he is 40 he will be able to do a lot less as he is already buying his first practice at 28yrs old. The aim is to add another every 4 years.
Think you might have missed the whoosh parrot.By the time he is 40 he will be able to do a lot less as he is already buying his first practice at 28yrs old. The aim is to add another every 4 years.
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