The Monotony of Work
Tedious Sameness
Monotony is characterized by uniformity and a lack of variation, it is a stale repetition that dulls the mind. While monotony isn't without its usefulness and it has a place in our lives as a meditative droning our lives today are often filled to the brim with this monotony and where we find the most of it is perhaps in our work. Society has since the Industrial Revolution been moving towards specialization professions and filling niches within an industry. A worker is now but a single step in a long production line - a single step that is repeated a million times. Most works are without variation, you do the same things over and over. Looking at a carpenter a hundred years ago would have to perform all kinds of different projects, you would make stairs, build houses, craft furniture, and much more. Today a carpenter is specialised usually in just one thing: focusing on roofs, furniture, and similar. Most processes are streamlined according to the Ford model and nowhere else is this as apparent as in factory jobs where you repeat your task indefinitely in a chain of tasks. Our ancestors certainly didn't live through these specialized times.
Indeed, for most of our species' existence we've had to be able to perform a large variety of tasks. We still see this to some extent in rural living, where people are more prone to DIY projects, fixing and tinkering with bits and bobs. This also lived on with housewives who were expected to perform a lot of different tasks and be good at it, an expectation of women that still exists in some parts. My grandmother never had a formal job, she never had a degree or specialised in any one thing and despite this she's a treasure trove of wisdom and expertise. She has extensive knowledge about gardening, cleaning, cooking and much more and she still to this day likes to do these things as they bring some variety to the things she gets to do. Today in order to survive you need to be able to perform a mind-numbing task over and over but this wasn't always the case. You needed to know about foraging, about caring for yourself and your loved ones. A person may have been able to excel in one set of skills but were still required to do much else. Animal-handling, gardening, cleaning, cooking are but to name a few. Now more than ever we are stuck relying on others skills and expertise and in this co-dependency we fooled ourselves into thinking we are more individualist than ever. This monotony contributes to several things in our lives so take a closer look at how this may affect us.
Perception of Time
I read recently that perceptually we have lived half of our lives at the age of 24; making the claim that novel and new experiences are lessened and we fall into routines, thus warping our perception of time. People who have lived for longer periods often make the claim that time never slows down, in fact, it goes faster and faster the older you get. We know this isn't true physically because a minute is always 60 seconds and that timeframe remains the same except in some rather peculiar physical conditions. Time is perceived to move faster because our brains often do not memorise or pay much attention to things we have done previously. A perfect example of this phenomenon is highway hypnosis or white-line fever. Highway hypnosis is an altered state of mind where a completely sober driver can safely drive lengthy distances with no recollection of having consciously done so. This is a form of automaticity our brains perform while doing monotone and repetitive tasks - simply put we go on autopilot. It's very common for people who drive the same road to their jobs every day to experience this. You suddenly arrive at your destination and realise you don't recall driving at all. The brain hasn't stored any of this information because it is essentially useless and already well-recorded in our memory bank.
The article I read claimed that we can perceptually make more out of our time and "perceived aging" by seeking out new and novel experiences. Statistically speaking we are very likely to have experienced a wide range of emotions by the age of 24 - grief, happiness, and so on are all repeated emotions, and while their causes and context may be novel the feelings themselves usually are not. Monotony therefore can warp our perception of time and it often makes us unconscious of our surroundings. This can both be a blessing and a curse. Because while it may make the monotonous pass by quicker it as a whole may blind us to life and its richness.
Repetition and Results
It's often stated that to master something you need to do it for 10 000 hours. Whether it's the truth or not it is a powerful testimony to the power of repetition. People who set world records often repeat their task an innumerable amount of times to get it just right: whether it's athletic performance, invention, or art. A boxer may practice the same punch 10,000 times just to get it right. Speaking of this kind of repetition there is no doubt that it becomes monotone. I found in my personal life the realisation that whatever you've been doing you're gonna keep doing, our lives move in cycles like the seasons. There are periods where sow and periods where we harvest, and what we do we keep doing. With this realisation I made sure to put my energy and focus into doing things that mattered to me and that were important. These cycles and habits are very difficult to break, but of course not impossible. About 10 in 100 of people who go to rehab get sober, and this is proof that we can change our ways, but that most people do not. If you've worked a 9-5 and only watched TV in your free time this is most likely, at least statistically speaking - what you will continue to do. We often don't break away from our cycles and passions. A professional athlete has most likely started at a young age and continues until they retire, and even after retiring a lot goes on to continue training and coaching others. They don't leave their sport behind once they've mastered it. I've poured my time and energy into artistic pursuits like writing and painting, often at the cost of my social, physical, and mental well-being but I am happy with it, and with the knowledge that I will continue to do it because it is somebody I am happy being. I know a lot of people aren't happy being what they've made themselves and, indeed, most people don't grow out of their 20's. There are forever bachelors and bachelorettes who continue to party well into old age, and if that makes them happy so be it, but a lot of people aren't. They wish for other things that are now incredibly difficult for them to achieve. Therefore repetition and to some extent monotony is important in achieving your goals and becoming the person you want to be.
When listening to an interview with a full-time artist she said something that stuck with me: and that's to do what you want to pursue for at least a little bit every day. You're not going to make your greatest works every single day, they may in fact come once in a blue moon, but the preparation and practice of your craft every day will ensure that those masterpieces do manifest. You may not be able to spend 9 hours a day doing what you want to do, but you can spend at least a little bit every day and constantly improve, and what you do you will continue to do. With this in mind, I want to speak a little about breaking monotony and the value of doing different things.
The Value of Variety
Switching things up and changing your attention towards something else can be a great way to overcome creativity and other hindrances. In the case of an athlete, a large variety of muscles and skills are required. A boxer breaks the monotony of practicing the punch by training their endurance, flexibility, and more. A carpenter may be inspired in his furniture work by expanding his horizons and taking on new challenges while building roofs. If we're faced with a creative block one of the best ways to combat that is by shifting our focus towards something we enjoy and something we can do without effort, instead of struggling against the blockade just waltz around it. Sometimes we just need a little time, and oftentimes as soon as you stop thinking about a problem the solution will magically appear to you. In my personal life, I often find that breaking the monotony helps me in various ways.
I jump between different projects, always progressing in some aspect and it helps me combat my inability to focus on tasks that are too monotonous. It's one of the greatest blessings in regards to my current work, that I have the ability and opportunity to do a lot of different things which are important to me. I find that writing helps my painting, and painting helps my drawing and so forth. These disciplines allow me to constantly exercise my creativity and hone my skills. It also takes away a lot of work-related pressure and stress and quiets down the constant inner nagging that I am not doing enough. No doubt more of these projects would be finished if I only dedicated my time to one, but I find that I am often unable to complete a painting until I have finished some other paintings. I constantly jump between these things and progress little by little, until a bunch of them are completed around the same time. Variety is good for us I believe. If you eat only one thing your body will be malnourished, and if you do only one thing your soul will be malnourished. Variety also helps you experience and get more out of life, and it slows that time perception. Seek out new ideas and experiences and break the rut you find yourself in by doing something new.
Jack of all trades is master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one.
