February 16, 2006
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Major: Fun w/ filing
I just spent the last 2 hours doing nothing but pure and simple data entry, entering about 580 individual invoices from a hotel bill we got from a conference of 200-300 attendees, and, despite the feeling of “i know i can do so much more w/ my life,” i suddenly realized, “who the fuck cares what i do w/ my life…enough w/ the god-damn pressure already,” and, after going back through the numbers several times to find every last penny, it added up. Nice job office manager Dan…pat on the back for ya!
Comments (4)
i always found data entry mind numbing
i would have shot myself. ct
Hey, whatever pays the bills. I, personally have always disliked sales and marketing. The few times I’ve attempted either job, I’ve come away feeling dirty. I cannot justify telling people they NEED any item or service that they could well survive without. the truth is, data entry, sales, accounts payable/receivable, h.r., middle management, and marketing (plus many more departments) are all very necessary aspects of legitmate business. Granted, they are not high-profile jobs. Such jobs likely won’t give your life the meaning and self-satisfaction you’d derive from rescuing innocent endangered homeless crippled orphan rain-forests. But such jobs will give you a paycheck. Which you can then donate to illiterate whales in rehab or whatever cause you deem worthy. Or you can save your money until you have enough bread to establish your own foundation to champions your causes.
I have always found EVERY job mind numbing, once I spent a few weeks learning the ropes. I think is is because most jobs are repetitious and not given to wild, dynamic swings in description and responsibility. I have always felt that it is just the nature of the working world, and although most jobs are monotonous, the payoff is in the paycheck.
Data entry is mind numbing, I won’t argue that. But so is filling potholes with a city work crew or operating a steel press on a ten hour swing shift. I’m sure even porn stars get bored after a while.
Here’s a seldom-shared trick of the working world: Find a job at any company and work there for five to seven years. After that, you’ll be able to land almost any job you want (and are partially qualified for). Your ability to hold one job for half a decade or more speaks volumes to prospective employers. The earlier you pull this off, the higher you’ll climb on the ladder.
And good job making the sheet balance.
“rescuing innocent endangered homeless crippled orphan rain-forest”
well-said!
as for mind-numbing work, i think there is the potential to find satisfaction in it…for example, i did feel good getting 300 numbers to add up right. and, my friend at the post office who was doing some sanding and painting, commented that the work was “therapeutic.” The hard thing is that you can begin to accept that work, and by extension life, are meaningless. You work, make a buck, and live life. Not everything has to be meaningful.
But…if you’re a creative minded person, or you have an activist/ do-gooder drive in you, as I do, then you have that extra challenge. I think your 5-7yr. job stay idea has merit, i’m already impressed i’ve made it 7mos. in one job.
Most jobs, it seems, are full of dead-time. Ultimately, the friendships w/ your co-workers is as valuable as the job itself.
As for selling things, I’ve recently come to conclude that it’s ok to sell something that somebody might find useful, even though they don’t need it. It all depends on what you’re selling and marketing. My biggest myth that I hope to bust through my writing, is how we generalize jobs. What does it mean to be in sales? I can sell vacations where you assist Costa Rican banana farmers in the fields, or I can sell ginsu knives. What about marketing? I could be coming up with psychological data to figure out what color will attract people into McDonald’s (apparently yellow was chosen because it is both attractive, and incrases high-turnover), or, I could figure out how to market my book, College Daze, which could have the potential to make America a smarter, nicer, more fun place to live. I’ll admit, I never did a very good job plugging my book, precisely because it felt sleezy if done for profit vs. because I thought the individual I was speaking w/ would enjoy and benefit from owning the book and sharing it w/ people. But…now I love the concept of marketing, just not for shit like ginsu knives.
-dan