What to do when job becomes mundane

With the newbies in 2011

I always get a “cannot believe it” reaction whenever a newbie (new agent) asks me how long have I stayed in the call center office I was working before. Yes I spent eight nonstop years in the same outsourcing company. The usual follow up question thrown back to me is “Really? Did you not get bored doing the same stuff for years?” I would be hypocrite if I say “Never at all”. Maybe because I am feeding a family and sending two siblings to college at the same time so I cannot quit just like that. Losing a job that has become my comfort zone meant a family that can go hungry and siblings not able to finish their education.

One more reason I can think of is because I never stayed in the same job description for the entire eight years.  I started as an email answering agent and chat support specialist for two years, wore headsets for two years, did back-office tasks for two years, joined the QA team for 3 years then went back as agent when the company had to downsize for over a year.

Even though I wore different hats inside the office, I still went through all that dreaded feeling whenever everything becomes a routine.  When I was an email answering agent, I have to answer 200+ emails a day. Same scenario goes to taking calls, doing back – office tasks, auditing calls et  cetera.

So how did I made everything possible? Here’s my list of suggestions of what to do when job becomes mundane.

1. Be mindful of your break schedule. Use it at all cost.

Whether the tasks are piled up or easy – peasy, never forget to take your break schedule.  Even if it is as short as fifteen minutes, take that chance to refresh your attention.  Take your one-hour break up to the last minute. You might have a lot of backlogs but remember you are only paid for 8 eight hours a day.

2. Make a quick conversation that brings out good laugh with your seatmate beside you

When the time seems to freeze, all you need is to start a conversation with your officemate seated nearest you. I’m sure a good laugh from a simple joke or a topic you both are interested can surely make your time fly so fast.

3.  Use your rest days by doing something that involves physical motion like your favorite sport and the most I can suggest is travel!

Do something hilarious or exact opposite of what you do at work. Make your body pump up to make up for those times you feel everything is numb inside the office.

Even me I cannot believe I did reached eight years in the BPO industry. Whenever I caught myself hating those repetitive tasks I have to finish in a day, I just remind myself that I should rather be thankful that I have a job than having none at all.

Note: This is an entry to Sykes E-Recruitment Blog Giveaway.