Make Your “shitty Job” Work for You

Some people are lucky enough to work in a career or position that brings them satisfaction, challenge, and even inspiration. But many of us – maybe most of us – work in jobs that… are not like that. To a greater or lesser extent, every job has boring or frustrating moments, but if you find yourself constantly bored and frustrated, you have very little to do and little communication with colleagues or even your own boss, it’s time to ask yourself: is there a crappy job?

According to anthropologist and writer David Graeber, a bullshit job is “paid work that is so pointless, redundant, or harmful that even the people who have the job cannot explain its existence.” It makes no sense, you yourself have a hard time justifying your salary, but you also have to work hard to pretend that your work matters because you don’t want to be fired. A bullshit job makes people unhappy because you realize you’re wasting your time and energy.

But if you have one of those jobs that requires minimal attention, maybe you shouldn’t automatically quit and look for a new one . Maybe you should consider making your bullshit work for you.

Redirect your efforts

While all bullshit jobs are worthless, they are not all the same. Just because a job is rubbish doesn’t mean it doesn’t take up a lot of time. Many bullshit jobs involve constant anxiety because you have to struggle to maintain the illusion that you are essential to the organization. As a result, many of these positions can be quite busy as you do a lot of mindless work to keep the industry visible.

But if you have one of those crappy jobs that doesn’t really require much of you (this can be especially true if you work remotely), you may be wasting the most incredible resource of all: your time. If you can say in good conscience that you are doing work that you are paid to do, no matter how pointless it may be, you can make that work work for you by using your time for other purposes. Maybe you could get a second full-time job and double your income. Or maybe you could spend most of your work time working on a project you love, like writing a novel.

Resume construction

From a practical point of view, you could use this time to upgrade or retrain. Many people in bullshit jobs feel like they’re falling behind because they’re not being challenged, and rotting too long in one of them can leave you with an unreliable resume and rusty skill set. If your company offers training programs or compensation for certificates and degrees, take advantage of it. If that’s not enough, look for a mentor at your current job to help you brush up on your skills, rather than let them rot while you’re doing nothing.

You also need to think about how all this crap you’re doing will look on your resume. Sure, you know your job is filled with mindless tasks and compulsive work, but no one else knows that. Describing your job properly can make it more legitimate and important, so as you go through the soul-draining suffering of empty days, take notes and think about how you can make it all sound like someone who is experienced, competent, and underpaid.

Go remotely

One of the keys to making bullshit work for you is to get out of constant supervision. As anyone who has a meaningless job knows, pretending to be busy is more tiring than working hard, and much of the spiritual suffering of a Bullshit Job is due to the anxiety associated with being “exposed.” Getting permission to work remotely can make it much easier to automate your few duties and greatly reduce productivity if you’re not forced to work with a lot of remote monitoring (although you still have some options if you are).

Change the game

Most of the stupid professions become so in large part due to the failure of management. Sometimes a manager gets fired and some of the positions under him get lost in the shuffling , and sometimes managers have too many direct reports and can’t control you effectively. And not all managers are good at confrontation – yours may be very aware that you spend most of your day doing nothing important, but they have no idea what to do with it.

But a Bullshit Job can be an opportunity to get the job you want. Try offering help to other departments or volunteer to help with projects that seem exciting or interesting.

If your particular taste of Bullshit Job doesn’t really give you much free time because it’s littered with meaningless tasks and projects, you can either lie down and accept that you’ll be doing this for the foreseeable future, or you can try to make a difference from the inside. by suggesting tasks that can be eliminated, made more efficient, or done differently. In a way, it is an opportunity to change the position so that it suits you better and gives you a higher sense of accomplishment and achievement. In essence, making your work bearable becomes your creative outlet and number one goal. If you’re not mostly controlled, you can do it privately just to make your life easier, or you can do it with the ultimate goal of presenting your ideas to your boss to systematize your delusion reduction ideas.