Home from work...

[annwfyn]

...and mostly quite tired.

I have a definite feeling that I'm growing weary of this job. Every once in a while I'll still come across something shiney, but mostly it is just a long and slightly grinding process. I put photographs in folders. I take them out of folders and scan them. I put them back into folders. There's not a lot of engagement with the object, and it's all reminding me why I drifted away from archive work.

I'm also pondering two conversations I've had recently with people about my work conditions.

As an explanation, I work from 10 am to 5 pm. I have half an hour for lunch, and sometimes a 15 minute coffee break in the afternoon (although that didn't happen today). There is no internet access at all, and as I'm normally working in a pair (one person digging through boxes, another putting away, for example) I really do just work solidly for the entire time I'm there. My mobile is meant to be put away, as P&O like bags and personal possessions kept tucked away whilst we're working and we don't have our own desks.

It is a nice office - people are friendly, P&O provides its employees with a free lunch from Pret (normally a sandwich and a cake, and there's free fruit, juice, tea and coffee) and as I count as a casual worker, they are pretty relaxed about what hours I work (they just don't pay me if I'm not there) and me taking time off if I need it.

It's not traumatic, but there are days when I do feel a bit cut off from the world during my working day, and I can get a bit jealous of those people who get to bounce e mails at work, or browse LJ, or even who get ten minute patches of brain dead downtime during the day.

I was chatting with one of the girls at work, and she said she thought P&O was quite a cushy environment - no one sits on our shoulders much, we get a free lunch, and she's never had a job where she's been able to send e mail or take loads of breaks etc. A week or so ago I was chatting with a friend from school and she was mildly horrified at the idea of working like that, without real breaks and with only a half hour for lunch.

I was wondering. How does my job sound to you? What is your working life like?

Comments

[adze.livejournal.com]

What cairmen said, really. I've gotten used to jobs where e-mail and the internet is only a click away, but now that I'm cutting down, I'm discovering that it makes you more productive without the distractions.

The free lunch is pretty good, but I'd be a little concerned about breaks. The Working Time Directive is a big part of what I do at the minute, although it's mainly when it comes to larger scale stuff for us, as in how many hours you can work in a week. That said, it does break down how much you are supposed to work before you take a break. I think that with the 15 minutes afternoon break, your ok, but it's close. It is slightly skewed by the shorter hours, though.

Personally, I think the job sounds dull, and I know exactly how much a dull job can affect people's mental state, especially if there are no distractions. On the up side, it sounds absolutely stress-free, whereas the job I have is the opposite. We have horrible deadlines, and customers to deal with, and that causes a lot of stress, on top of it being pretty damned dull, too.

[twisted-times.livejournal.com]

It's worth checking Health & Safety regulations as well. If you're sat in from of a monitor you're supposed to take a 20 minute break every two hours. I would hope that if you're standing up all day something similar should apply.

[anonymous-james.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that it's a "break from the screen" which actually means change in job function, rather than an actual break.

[twisted-times.livejournal.com]

I think it's an actual break, but my recall of Health & Safety regulations on this topic is a bit rusty. I used to know it inside out because I temped and did nothing but data entry for weeks at a time...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

It's low stress, but is getting rather dull. Thankfully I've only got another three weeks and then I'm down to 2 days per week, which will make me much happier.