To leave a really easy job because it's boring?

[showersandflowers]

I work in education (not teaching) and the summer holidays are very, very slow and boring. I haven't had any work in days (my boss is aware and very relaxed about this). My house has never been so clean (I wfh). Even during term time, I've managed to automate so much of my job that I seldom have more than 2 hours of work to do a day.

I'm considering taking a busier job. One has come up that is not WFH and which will be pretty busy. But it's only a little extra pay.

On the one hand, I'm bored. On the other, it'd only be a little more money for a lot more work and I won't have as much personal time. I flip flop from day to day thinking "I'd be so much more fulfilled in a busier job" then on other days I think "but I'd be so overwhelmed suddenly losing all this time I have and working flexibility".

What would you do?

Do you really have no way of occupying spare time other than cleaning? I'd suggest you use the time to start working for qualifications that will get you a more interesting and better paid job.

Why quote the entire OP? If you respond on a thread, the assumption is that you are responding to the OP unless you say otherwise.

Besides which its not like OP isn't working - she's essentially working part time but getting paid full time.

This... but also as someone with a big stressful job, you think its fulfilling in the moment, particularly if there's a lot of satisfying task completion, but you often look back and it seems so meaningless.

A lot of what we call "fulfillment* is really a combination of:

• positive feedback
• task completion
• pride in producing something to a high quality

If you have things in your life that give you these feelings then you can find you need them less from your paid occupation.

I get these feelings from:

• parenting/my children
• hobbies - practising a musical instrument, a book club, an exercise regime, growing fruit & veg in an allotment, knitting complex patterns.

Some of it is how you approach hobbies and whether these involve learning new skills or pushing yourself to achieve goals. If your hobbies are quite passive/consumption based (tv, shopping, socialising) you might feel less fulfilled.

Depends on what stage you are in your life.

If you are young don't stay stuck in a boring job where you are not progressing and learning anything new.

If you are close to retirement then it might not be a bad thing to have an easy job that gives you flexibility.

I would start making plan and maybe use your down time to retrain/gain new skills. There is a lot of stuff you can study online.

Me too! What do you do, something for LA I'm guessing?

I had a boring job like this. It was fine at first but soul destroying after a while. I had a few jobs in the same organisation and they were all the same! Honestly not sure how everyone else filled their time.

I left to retrain. I was in the office Mon-Fri though (pre covid when wfh wasn’t so common). I think, had I been working at home, I’d have signed up for an online course and taken advantage of having time to study while still earning a full time salary. That’s what I’d do in your position now.

I had a job like this before I had my son. Work from home, no work to actually be done. I was so bored, I took having my son as an excuse to leave and be a SAHM.

Now I'm looking at going back into the workforce and realising how good I had it! The jobs I'm looking at going back to all involve working in the office and being busy constantly. Not having a commute is such a luxury even before you include the things you can do while working from home even in a busy role.

So I'd personally stick with the boring job and find other ways to entertain myself at home. Getting the cleaning done during working hours is such a big bonus, but even just being able to relax with a book. Maybe it's skewed by me having a small child and less "me time" in general though!

Side hustle and either hobbies or training, open uni etc with a view to moving on at some point.

I had an insanely busy job in the nineties and I’m paying for it with my health now with arthritis.

Boring is sould destroying and makes the day drag. I'd leave

I would stay in the job. Find fulfilling things to do at home ( not cleaning etc!) things like online courses, you could write, paint, learn, start a business.. the list is endless!

Is the other job more intersting or just busier? Therre is a difference.

Don't switch the job, find something else alongside to occupy your time. I went from a volatile NHS frontline job to a 'boring' job and ai have so much more energy for other things. Busy jobs can leave you burnt out with nothing left for yourself

I’m with those who say stick with the boring job and nurture outside interests. I’ve always been happier in demand led roles where I knew exactly what was expected of me and the timeframe rather than in general admin roles where I had to plan and organise my own work ( I suspect I have ADD) hence was always happier working as a PA than a member of an admin team.

Use the extra time to read, do online courses, craft, diy, home workouts etc...the list is endless! You are in a very enviable position.
I suspect you may come to regret it if you change to a busier job with less freedom.

If you are trying for baby then May not be worth moving jobs as you would need to be there a set amount of time to qualify for enhanced maternity pay.
what about working another job that is wfh. Some people have two WFH jobs and get both done well

I love my not busy wfh job. Yes sometimes it's boring but my home is clean, meals all prepped, life admin done, can get shopping delivered. I book all personal appts for lunchtime and no issue if it takes longer than an hour.
I have considered changing to a busier job but my work/ life balance used to be shocking and spending all weekends doing home chores. An exhausting merry go round, it's so much easier now, I couldn't choose the stress of it, rather be bored.

I'm someone who thrives in a really busy job. That feeling of just plowing through the workload, and then onto the next without a thought, always having a long list of tasks to do just works for me.

I had a previous job which was mind numbing, easy and rarely any pressure of workload and I was BORED! Thankfully I have secured 2 promotions since then, I think my brain would have shrivelled and died if I had stayed in the boring job.....although I do miss having the time to get on the treadmill for a run. I rarely have time to eat these days, in fact today is a bit of a misnomer that ive had time to eat and mumsnet, only because I have to travel for work later today so cleared my diary.

So if I were you I'd go for the busier job.

Thank god you're here, @Marseillaise

What else is against the rules here? I should have checked with you first, obviously.

I’m in a similar position. The days can drag so badly and I end up feeling so bored. However I cannot really go off doing other things as I should be online. I can go stick a wash on or run the hoover round but that’s about it. The work can ebb and flow and some weeks I’m very busy. I’ve applied for a new busier role. I figure I’ve got 30 years left to work. I don’t want to die of boredom before that

Damn, I would kill for this type of job. What's the job title so I can apply for a similair job 😂