Hello,
I feel like I could use some outside perspective. Would love to hear what others might do in this situation. I'm trying to decide if I need to look for a new job or if I just need to adjust my attitude.
Current Job Pros:
Good pay
Good Benefits
Good boss. He really values and appreciates me.
Some flexibility
Current Job Cons:
I'm. SO. Bored. - there are times when I'm super busy but the majority of the time, I struggle to make the day pass. And the less I have to do, the less motivated I am to do anything.
Fairly solitary work environment. I work in a small department within a larger organization.
I don't find the work meaningful AT ALL.
My options:
1). Look for something else within the same organization. I work at a university. I believe staff positions tend to be fairly similar as far as the scope of work. However, it might be nice to work in a larger department and to have something a little different to do. On the other hand, I really like my boss and we get along well. I know he very much values me and would hate for me to leave. I would hate to be in a department where I didn't like my boss as much. Also, I am paid pretty well for my position. It might be difficult to find similar pay without taking on a HUGE amount of responsibility. I could be wrong about this but I have a feeling I'm right. I've been here for about 5 years (in two different departments) so I have a pretty good feel for the culture.
2) Talk to my boss about being bored. This is a little risky. He is very receptive to my feedback, however, I feel I need to be careful not to put him in an awkward position. I don't want him to come up with a bunch of "busy work" for me. If I were to talk to him I might ask if I could work from home occasionally (this is not a norm for staff though, so I think he would feel uncomfortable with me doing this). Also, I wouldn't want him to nit pick everything I do (like, if you are bored, why aren't you doing this, and this, and this or why isn't this better? For Office Space fans, I do a lot of TPS type reports. It is hard to get excited about making them better :-)
3). Look for something outside the organization. I don't know, I guess I don't feel all that motivated to put the energy and effort into starting something brand new. :-( Also, I recognize that I have it pretty good now. Good pay, good benefits, low stress. To find something of equal value might require a much higher level of stress and time but I don't know, maybe that is worth it?
So, what would you do?
I also wanted to add, I've been following The Art of Not Working thread. I love it and have tried incorporating some of the tricks and ideas but I still feel like my soul is being crushed here. :-)