The state of monotony is familiar to people of many professions. Most of all, he is exposed to workers of manufacturing enterprises, athletes, drivers and observers for control panels. Each person in his own way tolerates this condition. People with a strong nervous system experience it more than people with a weak, inert and slow types carry more easily than active and mobile personalities.
What is monotony?
Monotony - a state of man, arising when performing a monotonous work. The term includes two Greek words - monos - one and tonus - tension. This condition is characterized by a decrease in mental activity and tone, weakening of receptivity and conscious control, deterioration of memory and attention, steriotipization of activities and loss of interest in the work.
Types of monotony
Psychologists have identified two types of monotony:
- The condition associated with repeated repetition of the same action and with the action of a set of identical signals on the same nerve centers. Most often, this type of workers encounter workers who repeat their movements hundreds and thousands of times per shift when working on a conveyor belt.
- The state caused by the monotony of perception. This kind is peculiar to people who are forced to work in conditions of a monotonous, little-changing situation. A person is faced with a lack of new information and experiences a "sensory hunger". An example for this type of monotony can be a long ride on a familiar, uninteresting terrain or a long observation of any instrumentation points and stuff.
The conducted observations of drivers showed that the majority of representatives of this profession (74%) suffer a very difficult state of monotony, 23% - seriously and only 3% of drivers are relatively resistant to the state of monotony. In addition, it was noted that drivers involved in long distance transportation are less prone to monotony, which suggests some training in monotonous activity.
Methods to combat monotony
Psychologists recommend to find positive aspects in monotonous work, to do during its execution by reflections, calculations, etc. The following methods can also be very effective:
- complicating work operations;
- accelerating the pace of work;
- frequent change of activities;
- organization of breaks and pauses;
- strengthening of motivation through understanding the importance of the work performed.
Practical tips:
There are known stories from the life of marathon runners that they read detective novels and novels before the race to reflect on them during the performance of monotonous competitions. Drivers can be advised to listen to music, audiobooks, take fellow travelers to conduct conversations with them, most importantly, so that it does not distract from their immediate duties.
The state of monotony and stress are signs of the syndrome of "emotional burnout" . The realization that these states are present help to take timely measures to combat them. Measures should be taken not only by people suffering from this violation, but also by managers of enterprises whose employees are at risk. A correct assessment of the employees' condition will help to plan the workflow correctly and eliminate the negative impact of monotony on them. Effective measures such as the organization of various forms of physical activity during pauses, the introduction of functional music, the use of outside information and the optimization of the organization of workplaces are effective. In addition, psychological and social preventive measures aimed at increasing the motivation of work activity are effective.