Instilling freshness into the existing job

Whatever job we take up, we do so out of choice. It is up to us to deliver it using all the resources we have at our disposal or find another job rather than complain about the very job we once desired to have.

On my commute from office to home in the Volvo bus, I saw two young ladies boarding the bus even as they were busy discussing their professional progress, annual appraisal, benefits of one job over the other, should they consider job-hopping and things like that. Suddenly, one remarked, “One shitty job is like another shitty job” leaving my mouth open. The girls were commuting in an AC bus, with a laptop hanging from their shoulders and an office tag from their necks, so it was obvious they worked in a swanky office of a software company of repute, one of many in that area. Yet, they called their job shitty. 

I could not take my mind off their casual remark. When a person is unemployed or looking out for a job, the wish is to land a good job but once the job becomes routine, people begin to find excuses as to why it is boring, not to their taste, so on and so forth. They fail to realise that this job was the very one which they desired to have when they were jobless. 

Nothing remains new forever. Whether it is a job, a relationship, a neighbourhood or something else, everything loses its sheen sooner or later. But it does not mean that it has to remain so. The good news is that each one of us has the capability of making pleasant change/s in the current situation to transform the mundane into meaningful or even magical. 

The photograph I have posted on top of this article is an example of what I attempt to say. It is one of the many commonly seen carts of vendors selling roasted peanuts and this one was outside a mall. There were many other carts vying for attention of the visitors to the mall, but this young vendor had strived to make his cart stand out – and his job interesting – by creatively arranging the cones in which he would give the peanuts. Surely enough, only that cart drew my attention, none other. I liked the efforts he had taken to make his cart look attractive without any extra investment. 

A resort that I recently visited allows its guests to get their pets along, so they don’t have to worry about leaving them behind, and hence thoroughly enjoy their stay and recommend it to others also. The resort also has its own pets so that people who love animals but can’t keep them at home for whatever reason can enjoy their company in the resort. If reviews on social media are anything to go by, the place is doing really well, but the icing on the cake is that the resort manager and his staff now have the pleasure of having new pets visit them every now and then so there is so much fun amidst work. It’s a win-win for the guests and the resort staff.   

One of my gardening friends persuaded his office administration to spare a small area around his office building and started a vegetable garden, which he and his colleagues tend to in their spare time. The produce is distributed on need basis. They say this is very therapeutic and a healthy way to break the monotony of a desk job. 

Coming back to the ladies, they could take up something worthwhile to engage in – volunteering for the deprived, visiting a hospital with terminally ill patients, even learning something new – atleast once a week. 

We often fix a date for everyone in the team or the department or the entire office, to come to work dressed in ethnic wear. A few of us have had potluck lunch sessions that invariably involve sharing of recipes and exchange of health trivia during and after the lunch. A senior executive used to distribute red roses to all women – even the housekeeping staff – on Valentine’s Day. Come February, everyone used to look forward to this single rose from the gentleman. All these are examples that even small initiatives infuse excitement into the atmosphere. 

Instilling freshness into the ordinary does not have to burn a hole in the pocket, or take up all the time on hand. It all depends on the willingness for where there is a will there is a way.  

I have only suggested on how employees can help themselves. Organisations or workplaces have specific functions within the HR department to focus on things to do to keep employees engaged in their jobs, so that they do not feel frustrated with the drudgery of their work and look out for ‘interesting’ options elsewhere. That will be the subject matter of another article if not another book.