Comments on: Can Monotony Ever Be a Good Thing?

By: The curse of being good at something you don't enjoy | Insight Writer

The curse of being good at something you don't enjoy | Insight Writer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:25:36 +0000

[...] post comes out of my post about monotony being a good thing from last week. What do you do when you feel you have reached the limits of your career and [...]

By: Mike King

Mike King — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:21:23 +0000

Catching up here late, but I certainly agree here Jeremy. Monotomy is valuable for demonstrating consistency and often other areas of leadership and management. It can inspire others and open new opportunities for you and new perspectives (like Ian mentioned in his training). If you let if make you stale without close scrutiny for new value however, then it can't be useful since it would then fit into my category of "wasting life". Mike King’s last blog post..Avoiding Some Dangers of Goal Setting

By: Jeremy Day

Jeremy Day — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:20:47 +0000

Hi All,You know I have been reading all the comments and I feel a bit relieved. Not that I expected I was the only one out there, but that I expected at least one person to say that the monotony I described was good. The way I see it is that it is a good thing to be good at what you do, even if it comes easy to you. What I have found is that people often prefer the hard way. They would rather learn something new than stick with what they are good at. For instance, the math genius that could easily get a well paying, analytical, and probably satisfying job anywhere, who instead chooses to be a music teacher. The curse of being good at something you don’t enjoy a whole lot.So your comments have all helped me. Especially Amanda’s. We really don’t want comfort do we? We want a challenge and the satisfaction that comes from it. Yet comfort is something we strive so hard for. Maybe its the striving we truly desire more? hmmmm….Cheers,Jeremy

By: Davina

Davina — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:17:54 +0000

Hi Jeremy. I think monotony gets to be a problem when we get so good at what we're doing, we take ourselves for granted. We gloss over our accomplishments and don't give ourselves enough credit. I do this all the time! Davina’s last blog post..Benefits Of Turning Off Comments

By: Happiness Is Better

Happiness Is Better — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:57:47 +0000

If you assume monotony and boredom are one and same, I say no. "Variety is the spice of life." For me, I love variety. This is certainly interesting to think about! Happiness Is Better’s last blog post..Are Real Estate Guru’s Worth the Money?

By: Amanda Linehan

Amanda Linehan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:14:28 +0000

Hi Jeremy - I think this is a very natural reaction to have. The truth is, we think that what we want is comfort, but that often isn't as pleasant as we think it's going to be. Like you said - we get bored. I think monotony is good though because it makes you want to seek change and new challenges. Ultimately, I don't think there are many who really are content with monotony. Amanda Linehan’s last blog post..How To Be Flexible

By: Daphne

Daphne — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:41:08 +0000

I’m like you, Jeremy, in that I like to start things, and can get good quite fast (similarly, not bragging, just stating a personal opinion) then I get bored.

It’s like beautifying a room with lots of plants then getting tired of watering them and they all eventually die out. We are ‘starters’ not ‘maintenance’ people, as I see it. And the world needs all types, so there’s nothing wrong with this as long as we can find good people to carry on once we start, people who don’t like starting but love routine and sameness.

Interesting, Frank Brown, Dean of INSEAD, said in an interview that he thinks people should move on every 5 years. This creates constant stimulus for the person to keep growing and leaves room for others to take their place. He said this was good for both organisations and individuals. I’m still digesting what he said.

So should you look for contentment or keep moving? Ultimately a question only you can answer. Just take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. There is at least one person out there going through the same thing.

Daphne’s last blog post..Book Review: The World Without Us

By: Ian Peatey

Ian Peatey — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:59:40 +0000

Jeremy

As usual .. it depends!!!!

I have one 4 day workshop I’ve been running around 8 times a year for the last 15 years or so. It’s a pretty challenging workshop and it changes a little every year … but even so I’ve mastered it to the extent that I know it inside out. About 4 years ago I realised that I was running it on auto-pilot and was really getting bored with the monotony – sometimes running the same workshop 3 times in as many weeks. There is a real comfort in that … and because I don’t need to worry about the content there’s a chance to focus on other things that are going on. I could just settle into it, I guess, but that’s not really me.

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:21:41 +0000

I visited a factory once where there were lots of people on minimum wage doing extremely repetitive menial tasks hundreds or probably thousands of times a day. The thing that really struck me was that I saw more smiles there than if I'd walked through any city office with the same number of people. I guess some people are cut out for it, I'm not though! Julian’s last blog post..9 Tips To Create An Extra Hour In Your Day