Re-Engaging Mundane Tasks

Behavioral economics and psychological research now indicate that people often quit their tasks prematurely when not enough attention is required to keep them engaged. Through a meaningful and proven process called tangential immersion, individuals now can persist with the primary task at hand, being considered as boring, with a more engaging and rewarding secondary task that requires more attention. Overall persistence of mind and engagement are seen to experience a significant boost with this pairing of activities. Whether looking to increase personal productivity, customer retention in the marketplace, or simply keep an organization on track in a healthy manner, tangential immersion has its benefits.  

Everyone is invited to persevere when menial tasks and work all seem boring.

Whether doing the laundry, washing dishes, or attending to the lawn along with a myriad of other household assignments as well as entering data on spreadsheets, filing papers, and cleaning cabinets in the office – these all maintain a less-than-exciting luster in the daily grind. We would prefer to attend to the work that seems to be more engaging, but we must accomplish the more boring and mundane tasks as well to reinforce the upkeep of our homes, workplaces, and communities while running on all cylinders. It can be an altogether challenge to keep up within our modern mundaneness. Difficult and boring tasks require perseverance coupled with persistent effort. 

Current behavioral science research seeks to empower people to work with more effort while persisting when experiencing self-limiting issues with self-control while increasing prosocial behaviors. There are multiple considerations for changing the lever of behavior when motivation is lacking. This has been a long-term phenomenon for researchers to observe, and many have noted that when individuals monitor their personal progress, receive satisfying and relevant rewards, and establish a diversity of fun and engagement with the tasks, then they experience a trend toward higher levels of productivity. This all directly impacts how products and policies are made. Whether implementing strategies administratively to make the workplace more fun or using incentives to get employees to exercise more regularly, employers have already noted that they must creatively address the Great Resignation and individuals leaving the marketplace due to experiences of modern mundaneness. 

When a modern mundane task can be fulfilled automatically by a machine or reluctantly by a human, the task might not inherently demand sufficient attention.

When washing dishes is being experienced as moderately mundane, you can pair this activity with another that is exciting and intellectually stimulating. At the root, our minds seek to be engaged. When a task is below the threshold of required attention capacity, we find ourselves adrift and mind-wandering to another realm. If another activity is paired with a low-attention task, then it reduces overall boredom while simultaneously increasing persistence. Whether brushing your teeth, typing, exercising or other activities that require low attention, these activities are enhanced and become more dynamic when paired with an activity that requires a fuller attentional capacity. 

We can see different examples of how individuals are leveraging the power of tangential immersion. Many people intuitively employ tangential immersion already. When working out at the gym, people listen to music or put on their favorite podcasts during the workout. In the office, employees have timers to allow them to persist longer in the mundane office tasks. Employers utilize work bonuses as well as extra time off to incentivize their employees. Especially for office tasks that are more menial, employees read an engaging article while stuffing an envelope, listen to an audiobook while filing papers, and watch a video while cleaning around the office area. Tangential immersion is an effective strategy to employ when individuals are needing more stamina while attending to a mundane task. 

We often seek to fill our lives and workplaces with meaningful and engaging activities; yet, everyone is regularly confronted with boring tasks that require low-attention work. We will greatly benefit from finding ways to increase our persistence of mind, stamina, and personal progress in both our personal and professional lives. Tangential immersion decreases boredom and increases persistence. It allows for individuals to maintain their workflow while following through on the work they are doing and boosting personal productivity, emotional satisfaction, and overall well-being personally, organizationally, and societally.