Most of my Problems Stem from Boredom

I've learned a pretty valuable lesson working during my co-op. When I'm bored, I get into my head.

It's only during working hours (not working) that I can start second guessing my decision to do a Ph.D.. It's only during working hours that I can freely worry about the fact my professors (who are probably on summer vacation) aren't answering me. Over the course of 2 months, I've considered going on 3 diets, joining 2 gyms, purchasing $1000 worth of fitness equipment and making sure I did 10,000 steps every day.

Truth be told, I could probably get more work assigned to me if I just asked. I don't want to ask. When I ask, I get assigned the most meaningless tasks. "Fill out this form" or "fill out this excel spreadsheet". The most despicable job is writing a newsletter for the 3 people that will read it (I actually know who does) only to get it criticized week after week for its lack of "relevance in my news selection". The Russian saying инициатива тра***т инициатора applies like never before.

Because of that, my day usually looks something like this:
6:15 AM - Wake up.
6:20 AM - Still in bed because nobody will notice that I'm late.
7:30 AM - Arrived to the absolutely empty office, start doing Duolingo.
8:15 AM - Finish up Duolingo and mix up breakfast (I usually eat yogurt and instant oats).
8:30 AM - Eat breakfast while reading the news.
8:45 AM - Open up some documents so that I look busy as hell.
9:00 AM - This is where the boredom kicks in. Usually I'll play chess and go for short walks until lunch. Sometimes I'll do some random research online, or read Reddit.
12:00 PM - Lunch.
1:00 PM - At this point, I realize that I haven't done anything today, so I start doing the work that was assigned to me.
1:30 PM - I'm already bored of the work I'm doing, so I just remain idle, and play a few more games of chess.
2:00 PM - Coffee break. I usually go downstairs, but rarely actually get coffee.
2:30 PM - using the excuse of a very long line at the coffee shop, I finally get back to my desk. At this point, there is only 1 hour left, so I entertain myself on the Internet.
3:30 PM - I go home.
Some days really are different, when the team feels like assigning me more work. It's the summer, and most of the team is away on vacation so those days are rare. I wonder if they realize that I'm doing nothing.

I could be working hard on my Master's thesis, but the dullness of the office space and the general lack of motivation mixed with the guilt of doing nothing makes it impossible to do creative or quality work. Moreover the lack of responsiveness from professors is making it challenging to have a sense of direction in my work.

My situation really makes me wonder: "is this what office life is like?". Do all these people perform absolutely meaningless tasks all day, only to come home to prepare themselves for the next? Seems awful to imagine a life based on waiting for the next weekend or the next holiday. How can anyone in their right mind enjoy such a life? Is steady pay and possible comfortable retirement really worth it? I mean think about it, if all you do after work is get ready for the next day, complete house chores and degrade in front of the TV, you're actually working more than 40h/week. The only day you truly have at your disposal is Saturday (assuming you don't have children). Even so, can you truly disconnect from work on the weekend? Don't you at least think about it on Sunday when you realize you have to get up early again tomorrow? Most starting employees get 3 weeks off work for vacation and holidays. That means you get 1 day per week of work (49 weeks) plus 3 weeks of holidays - 70 days. 70 days out of 365. That's 20% of your life that you're free to dispose of as you please.

Frankly, the prospect of such a life is rather depressing to me. Perhaps it is because I've had it easy? I find myself rather lonely in my opinion. Everyone around me, including my girlfriend is thrilled at the idea of being employed and finally making money. They can't wait to leave university and begin their adult life. I've had a taste of it this summer, it's quite bitter. 

Poor Government Workers

I know what you're going to say: K., you're not allowed to complain, most students would dream of a job like yours. To that I say sure, but most students aren't very ambitious either. So here is what I find truly idiotic about my workplace:

1. The constant, never ending, limitless pride these people take in what they do.
Seriously, it's not even that impressive. Most people around me spend a solid 50% of their day on their phones. The other 50% is divided between getting lunch and coffee. The trick is to appear busy. If you appear busy and you over-inflate the value of the work you produce, you'll be able to get away with pretty much anything. These projects aren't even making a profit most of the time...

2. If you want a monkey that inputs data into a spreadsheet, hire a high schooler.
Unbelievable. Why did they hire a Masters student to input data from one PDF file to an excel spreadsheet. It doesn't take any stills to do this. In protest, I do it very, very slowly. It's also a good idea to hire a business analyst (as requested during the interview) and then not let him... business analyze things.

3. Who in his right mind would shove 3 people in a tiny room with no windows?
This is disgusting. There are plenty of empty cubicles that actually have natural lighting. Instead of making us feel like we are a member of the team, the students are shoved into this small closet-like office with no windows and 4 fluorescent lights. This inevitable leads to annoyance. From the girl behind me who just decided the desk reserved for my team should be hers to the guy to my left who told me about this for some reason, it is hard to stay calm when people are constantly looking at your screen.

4. Furniture from the 70s. Isn't the government embarrassed? 
Seriously look at this shit:

My desk is the one to the right. The cabinets come exactly to my eye level. They aren't even attached to the desk, so this could have been an easy fix... if only the people I work with would help me move this ridiculously heavy thing. Instead, they don't want the schlep. They would literally prefer me to have back pain than to help for 3 seconds. My manager was no different. When I approached her, she asked me how tall I was. Most people picture modern offices and high tech when they think of government work. The reality is outdated technology (Windows 7, Office 2010) and less than sub-par office space.

5. Screw your student meetings... and useless meetings in general... and your chain mail. 
Seriously, meetings for students every week? I can hardly believe it is someone's job to organize this. Why? We don't even get to communicate! These meetings are done so that other departments can show off their work to clueless students that might consider it an opportunity to work with them. And what about those "team update meetings" where you have to come up with something to tell your manager to give the impression that you're very busy doing important work? Why is this necessary? Also, for G-d's sake please get yourself a team chat. Outlook is not made for 1 sentence replies. The other day, the manager send out the following email to the entire team:

I mean, seriously? My inbox is full of messages like that.

Sometimes I wish they would just fire me. Then I remember how much paperwork I would have to do and how much explaining I'll engage in at my university that I just resort to waiting for this contract to be over. Never again, the looks of the office should have been a red flag during the interview.