Undiagnosed ADHD. Jobs get repetitive after the “training” phase.
My job is to replace smart gas meter devices. It involves a lot of driving, and repeating the same installation process 20+ times a day. Sometimes something interesting happens, but they are getting fewer and farther between. I’ve been there a couple months and I am getting burnt out from the repetition. As of right now, I usually watch videos or eat on my breaks.
Things I’ve considered:
- Podcasts (I’d have to use my own phone, and I feel like I’d get bored of these pretty quick)
- Music (I listen to music when I’m driving, but not during the installs. I could bring a bluetooth earpiece and listen all day, but again, I feel like I’d get burnt out/bored)
- Call someone (I dont have the social capacity to talk for 8 hours. I also have to ring doors and talk to residents)
- Give in to distractions (I can allow myself to stop and explore every so often, but not too often because I have a quota)
Have y’all found anything that helps throughout the day?
A lot of people mention podcasts, but what really helps me do boring tasks are audio dramas. They are shows meant to be listened to. These are different from audio books where you get a narrator, they have sound effects and several voice actors playing different characters.
Some good starting points IMO (all on Spotify)
- Wolf 359
- Wooden Overcoats
- The Amelia Project
- The Bright Sessions
- We Fix Space Junk
Interesting! An audible show sounds entertaining. Might have to dabble with comedy recordings too, but id probably look silly laughing randomly around people’s houses
In the line of podcasts, music and other audio/video contents you can just listen too, maybe check Grayjay and/or NewPipe, and pick the interesting stuff you find from the platforms connected? Each social media has a different focus, a culture if you will, and so mixing stuff might help keeping what you get to listen fresh.
Getting diagnosed, medicated and seeing an occupational therapist
Absolutely get into audiobooks and podcasts.
If you have a list of books you’ve been meaning to read, chances are they’re all available as an audiobook. From the podcast side of things, there is so much content out there that even if you did nothing but listen to them 24x7, you would never run out.
Personally, I tend to really like narrative fiction(basically modern radio plays) and rewatch style shows(the hosts go through a piece of media and talk about it beat by beat).
Gamify the process. Get into Pokemon Go, Ingress, or some other game that requires travel. During each installation, leave behind a little Easter egg. Not for the customer, but for the next tech who has to service the meter. Change it up.
I really like the easter egg idea, but i feel like I’d get in trouble for that one.
I cant spend too much time on games.
Podcasts, there are so many that you could subcribe to a new channel every day and never run out.
Not sure what podcast feed receiver you have, but AntennaPod is a great app that is free and makes finding subscriptions super easy.
What are your main interests?
SecondIng this, if you are getting bored with one genre of podcast, change it up! I used to listen to a bunch of NPR and general learn about things podcasts (stuff you should know is interesting) but found myself skipping just about every episode at one point, so I started listening to adventure zone (actually play RPG), then added Friends at the Table, Spout Lore, Risky Standard, The Critshow and several others that have finished and/or dissolved. The stories they tell are so different that it’s been hard for me to get bored (I found my current niche)
Audiobooks would be my choice.
I’ve started listening to a King of the Hill podcast at work. The guys talk about every episode for about an hour which is more time than the episode. With more than 259 episodes at about an hour a piece I’ve got quite a lot of a single podcast to listen to.
Once you put your A team of Podcasts together you won’t get bored. Podcasts cover every topic under the sun. I can’t find it anymore but Stone Cold Steve Austin did a full episode of his podcast detailing the fighting he did against a woodpecker at his ranch. Other times the podcast will have a really good theme song.
I swear I’m not a podcast shill. It’s just the most accessible media through my watch. A well curated library of subscriptions gets me through the week.
I’m undiagnosed too. Trying to get medicated should be the first step, but gaslighting doctors can be awful so I understand if that’s off the table.
I personally found these help:
- Lots of caffeine. Like, double the amount most people would call “unhealthy”. It’s less efficient, but it’s still a stimulant that helps attention span, at least for me.
- Keep learning. Get Duolingo or Brilliant or anything like that and just make sure you are always collecting and revising new knowledge. This raises the amount of dopamine in circulation in your brain, and makes it easier to focus even when you’re not learning.
A warning about podcasts, etc.: Don’t let your “work-time entertainment” be the same as your “free time entertainment”, or else they’ll blend together and you’ll never feel like you can relax at home.
I cant do caffiene, causes anxiety. I agree with work and free time. Listening to music for car rides has made me less interested in music at home.
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You suggest they should change from a manual installation job into robotics construction and programming?
Whoops I missed that their job is installing physical devices, not software
I have a degree in Game Programming, so you’re not far off. I’ve applied to programming jobs with no results.
