Meg is not fulfilled by her job.
The 40-year-old from Brisbane/Meanjin works in administration and has been in her current gig for seven years.
“It’s far beneath my capability level … I’m not very challenged,” Meg, who asked we keep her surname private, says.
But she isn’t complaining. Meg has never had a “dream job” and says mundane works brings her financial security, peace, and flexibility.
“I have very specifically chosen to work in a job that has very little stress. I just don’t want stress in my life.
“I get to work from home most of the time. I would take a pay cut to keep that going.”
New research involving RMIT University shows while pursuing more meaningful careers often brings personal growth and fulfilment, it often requires financial, mental and physical sacrifice.
Justine Alter is an organisational psychologist and co-director at Transitioning Well, a consultancy firm specialising in workplace wellbeing. She says there’s nothing wrong with having a job that’s “just a job”.
And there are ways to make it more enjoyable.
The pressure to have a dream job
Zena Burgess, CEO of the Australian Psychological Society, says the pressure to pursue a dream job can begin when we are children.
“At school people often ask young folks ‘What will you do when you grow up?’ as if there is some single thing that will define them as a person.”
It’s also the case that what someone might consider a dream job, another might see as a nightmare.
“For some people their dream job might be working with people they really like … for others it might be flexibility, like working close to home.
“Nobody has the perfect package all of the time.”
Mundane job sometimes a ‘trade-off’
Sometimes a job that allows you time to think about other things can be beneficial. (Pexels)
For many people, obtaining a dream job is just not possible, says Ms Alter.
“It’s often about the season of life you are in, the financial pressure you might have, and emotional pressure,” adding you might be raising young children, as one example.
Mum-of-three Tayla works in furniture sales on the Gold Coast/Yugambeh language region and says it’s “mind-numbingly boring”.
“I will go four hours without talking to someone sometimes,” says Talya, who asked we don’t use her real name.
“But it’s not lost on me how privileged I am; I have friends … [whose] whole lives become their job. They are completely depleted when they come home.”
Tayla says she will often put her hand up for extra tasks such as furniture assembly to keep busy, but mostly, a boring job means she can focus her energy on life outside of work — including the needs of her family.
“I can call in sick if I need to and not feel any guilt.”
A victim-survivor of domestic violence, Tayla says she’d love to work in community support, helping women and children.
But she says undertaking study while working and caring for three kids feels unachievable — for now.
“That’s what I want to do at TAFE next, a Certificate IV in Community Services.”
Dr Burgess says there are times in life where we have to make “trade-offs” to support those we care about.
A job that allows you to “think about other parts of your life”, she says, can alleviate mental load pressures.
However, there is a risk of being “too bored”, says Ms Alter.
“A term that has become popular is bore-out, instead of burn-out.
“[It’s when] the mundaneness leads to your stress levels being too low.”
When we are under-stimulated, she says that isn’t good for our physical or mental health.
Getting more out of a boring job
Finding community at work is one way to improve engagement, says Ms Alter.
“Sometimes it’s not about the actual tasks you are doing, it’s looking around in the workplace [and finding] what else you can get involved in; social groups, mentoring younger colleagues, volunteering for projects,
“That is often what is missing in the mundaneness.”
She says thinking about how you can make a positive difference in the workplace can also help.
“If you care about fairness, maybe you can push for better team process to make sure it aligns with your values,” she says as one example.
Dr Burgess says job crafting is a strategic way of achieving more job satisfaction.
Task crafting, relation crafting, and cognitive crafting are different ways you can approach this.
For example, if you work in customer service, you could look at your role as not just about resolving issues but also helping people.
Ultimately, making sure we don’t align too much of our identity with work can help us separate work from our purpose.
“We are so much more than [our work],” Ms Alter says.
