"I'm boooooored!"

“I’m bored.” How many times as a child did you say that to your mum or dad? And I’m sure their response was never the answer you wanted or was never something exciting to do. My mum’s answer went something like this… “If you are bored how about you go clean your room or why don’t you go for a walk, or you can help me fold the washing or why don’t you see what one of your sisters is doing and join them?”
Boredom can be described as an unpleasant state mind. The reasons can be internal – a lack of imagination, motivation, or concentration—or external, such as an absence of environmental stimuli or opportunities. So, while we want to do something more stimulating, we find ourselves unable to do so; moreover, we are frustrated by the rising awareness of this inability.
As an adult, I still go through periods of “I’m bored.” Unfortunately, there isn’t anyone to complain to or to give me suggestions on how to fix it – especially the suggestions I want to hear. Being an adult comes with big responsibilities (sometimes think it might be nice to revert to childhood) and one of them is to challenge yourself, learn new things and continue to grow (and no I don’t mean width wise, that’s just natural mileage as we get older).
Our places of work are constantly changing to meet the requirements of our clients or customers. This means we have numerous opportunities to develop new skills and/or add to the project management of innovation and efficiencies. Hop on board and if change scares you then choose to be involved in something small and safe within your boundaries that still has the excitement of learning something new. Look for ways within your role to make your tasks more efficient, start with something simple and map out each part of it. Ask yourself;

• Is there a better way?
• How relevant is this to our clients or customers?

Prioritise the parts of your job that give the most benefit to your client or customer but remember that your own business needs to be given the same priority. Treat your own business with the same courtesy and look at what administration tasks are relevant and required to ensure you have all the information you need.
If you’re not afraid of change and want to tackle something bigger, then go for it! Get others in the team on board too. It might not be easy as there may be members of the team that are resistant to change. As I’ve suggested in previous articles you will have to be an advocate and believe in the process.
One last thing… remember to follow through. Be persistent and tick all the boxes to make sure the project is completed with all team on board and put effort into training. Don’t be consumed by failure to implement because something gets too hard.
Now you have no excuses for saying “I’m bored.”