Latest / The Burnout Podcast with Fexingo: Workplace Exhaustion, Recovery, and Sustainable Careers / The Burnout of Doing the Same Thing Over and Over
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, let me ask you something. Have you ever had a job where you did the same handful of tasks every single day, and even though the work wasn't physically hard, you'd come home completely drained? Luna: Absolutely. I think back to a summer internship where I spent eight hours a day formatting spreadsheets. I wasn't lifting anything heavy, but I'd crash on the couch by seven. Lucas: Right. That's a kind of burnout we don't talk about enough — the exhaustion that comes not from overwork, but from monotony. There's actually a term for it in organisational psychology: the 'tedium tax.' Luna: Tedium tax — I like that. So it's not just boredom, it's a real cognitive drain? Lucas: Exactly. A 2023 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology looked at workers in highly routine roles — think assembly line, data entry, even some kinds of customer service — and found that they reported about 30 percent higher emotional exhaustion compared to peers with more varied tasks, even when hours worked and job demands were the same. Luna: Thirty percent is huge. And that's controlling for how much they actually worked? Lucas: Yeah. The researchers controlled for total hours, workload intensity, even sleep. The monotony itself was the driver. The theory is that when your brain does the same thing over and over, it stops getting the small dopamine hits that come from novelty or problem-solving. So you're basically running on a flat cognitive line all day, and that takes more effort than you realise. Luna: So it's almost like your brain is under-stimulated but still working hard to stay engaged. Lucas: Yes. And interestingly, the study also found that people in routine jobs didn't report more physical fatigue — it was purely emotional exhaustion. They felt drained, irritable, and disconnected from their work. That's the classic burnout triad, but it's coming from a different source than we usually assume. Luna: Which is usually too much demand, too little control, or lack of reward. But here it's just — repetition. Lucas: Right. And that matters because the typical advice for someone feeling burned out by repetition is 'find a new job' or 'ask for more interesting projects.' But for a lot of people, that's not realistic. So what do you do if you're stuck in a role that's inherently repetitive? Luna: I'm guessing the answer isn't just 'suck it up.' Lucas: No, definitely not. There's research on something called 'job crafting' — the idea that employees can reshape their own tasks and relationships, even within a rigid role. A 2019 meta-analysis showed that people who practice job crafting report lower burnout and higher engagement. Luna: Give me a concrete example. What does job crafting look like for a data entry person? Lucas: One tactic is task rotation — literally switching between different types of entries every hour instead of doing one type all day. Another is adding a micro-challenge, like trying to improve your accuracy rate by a fraction of a percent each week. Some people reframe the task as helping a specific customer or team, which gives it meaning. Luna: So it's about injecting tiny bits of novelty or purpose into the routine. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a simpler fix that comes from the habituation literature: take a five-minute break every 45 minutes to do something completely different — look out a window, stretch, read a sentence from a book. That brief dishabituation resets your brain's sensitivity to the task. Luna: I've heard that called 'micro-variety.' Even small changes in your environment — sitting in a different chair, listening to a different genre of music — can help. Lucas: Yeah. And I want to push back on something while we're at it. A lot of the conversation around burnout says 'if you're bored, leave.' But that ignores the reality that many people can't leave, or don't want to because the job has other benefits — stability, flexibility, good pay. The goal should be to make repetitive work sustainable, not to escape it. Luna: That's a refreshing take. The 'just quit' narrative is pretty privileged. Lucas: Absolutely. So let's talk about what managers can do too. One thing the research shows is that allowing workers even a small amount of control over the pace or order of tasks reduces the tedium tax significantly. Luna: Like letting someone batch their own schedule or choose which tasks to do in which order? Lucas: Yes. Even giving people the autonomy to take a short walk when they feel the monotony setting in helps. And there's a structural fix: cross-training. If you rotate people through different roles within a team, everyone gets variety and the team builds resilience. Luna: That also reduces the risk of a single point of failure — if someone's out sick, someone else can step in. Lucas: Exactly. So the tedium tax is real, it's measurable, and it's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign that your brain needs variety, which is a basic biological need. Luna: Before we wrap this thread, Lucas — you mentioned job crafting earlier, and I want to get more practical. What's one small thing someone could do tomorrow to reduce the tedium in their day? Lucas: One simple thing: change the order of your tasks. If you always do the same task first thing, try doing it after lunch instead. That small disruption forces your brain to re-engage, because the context is slightly different. Luna: I like that. It's almost like a cognitive reset. Lucas: Yeah. And speaking of small changes that make a big difference — I want to be honest about something. This show exists because of listeners like you. We don't run ads, and we keep the episodes free because a handful of folks chip in monthly through Buy Me a Coffee. It's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo — all lowercase. That's literally what funds us making this many episodes. So if you've gotten something out of these conversations, and you've got a couple bucks to spare, it helps keep the whole thing going. Luna: Yeah, and I'll just add — we're not asking for a lot. Even a small monthly contribution adds up when enough people do it. And it's completely optional. We're just grateful you're here. Lucas: Exactly. Okay, back to the tedium tax. The last thing I want to mention is the role of the social environment. One of the strongest buffers against monotony is having a colleague you can share a quick laugh with. Luna: That makes total sense. If you're doing the same thing all day, but you have a work friend to complain to or joke with, it breaks the spell. Lucas: Yes. A 2021 study from the University of Toronto found that workers with strong social ties at work reported 40 percent lower emotional exhaustion from routine tasks. Just knowing someone else is in the same boat seems to help. Luna: So the fix might be as simple as having a chat at the water cooler — or its virtual equivalent. Lucas: Right. So if you're feeling drained by repetition, here's your checklist: try micro-variety in your tasks, take short breaks to dishabituate, get a little control over your order or pace, and lean on a work buddy. Those won't make the job exciting, but they can make it sustainable. Luna: And maybe — just maybe — remind yourself that the tedium is not a personal failing. Lucas: Exactly. Your brain is just asking for a little novelty. Give it that, and you might find the exhaustion lifts more than you'd expect.