Mindless, Repetitive Tasks

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Hello all,

It has been some time since my last post here, but I need the collective wisdom of the community. I started a new job a few months ago, and despite the fact that I'm overqualified and it requires a lot of talking on the phone (historically not one of my strengths), it is related to one of my special interests, and I'm doing reasonably well. I am even managing to do well with the phone conversations. The company is small and my coworkers are nice enough. The boss is an overbearing, power-hungry, micromanaging boor, but he's rarely around. I have not shared my diagnosis with any of them, except for one assistant manager whom I like very much. (She had said that she suspected her ex of being an Aspie, and I said that I am one, but it hasn't come up since.)

So the issue is that I am now faced with having to do an enormous amount of data entry. This was not part of my original job description, and if it had been, I would not have taken the job. I am terrible with data entry. I simply cannot handle mindless, repetitive tasks. My mind starts to wander, and sometimes I stim. If I try to focus, I start seeing patterns in the information that aren't relevant to the task at hand. If I'm at a computer, I start looking for more information on the data that I'm supposed to be entering. (I'm addicted to information.) I do not have a diagnosis of ADD, but I suspect that I may have some attention-deficit issues. I have always been bad at this kind of thing; when I was in elementary and high school I got poor grades because I just couldn't do homework. This was especially frustrating, because I wanted to do homework - but I was basically incapable of just sitting down and doing it.

My wife thinks I should go back to my psychologist and get a statement basically saying that I'm incapable of doing data entry. I'm not sure what I think about this. First of all, my boss doesn't know that I have a diagnosis (and none of my previous employers have known, either.) I'm not sure how I feel about making my diagnosis public, and how it would effect my future employment. My boss also shows no regard for labor laws, and I doubt he would show any discretion in terms of respecting my wishes to keep my diagnosis private. (The fact that sharing a diagnosis against someone's wishes is illegal probably wouldn't matter to this guy.) I don't think you can fire someone for something like this, but I'm afraid he'd find an excuse to fire me for something else.

At the same time, I don't know how to cope. It's already difficult enough dealing with all of the sensory issues (constant background music, ringing phones, office politics), and I am proud of the progress I've made in terms of phone etiquette. But data entry, especially when I have to switch back and forth between that and my other tasks (phone and email correspondence, etc.), is kind of my limit.

I don't think you need the psychologist's letter saying that you can't do data entry. You shouldn't tell your boss about it right way.

Instead, start telling your co-workers about your troubles with data entry, and they might help you out. Perhaps they can support you somehow.

Pure data entry can be really boring, but try to see it this way: It's easy to do, and if you are good at seeing patterns in the data, try to use it for quality checks: Are the numbers right, or is there something else going on at the spreadsheet?

With a little training, you can do it after a while. I'm afraid that every office jobs has some rather boring tasks. My last job had me running back and forth when I had to pick up supplies in the mail room, and it was boring beyond compare. We all have to deal with tedious tasks... It's ok to hate it, but you have to deal with it one way or another.

Good luck!

How you should approach this is tactical and purely dependent on the dynamic of your company. Since none of us will really know the nuances within your company, you really need to get advice internally. I would advise setting up a meeting with that assistant manager, and asking her for some support/mentorship and see if they have any advice on how you should approach this. Some key questions you should ask yourself before speaking to her:
1. Does the amount of data entry work vary across workers of your level?
2. Is there anything else you can contribute towards if you were not to do data entry?
3. Are you able to do "less" data entry? Or are you incapable of doing any?

Also, as you alluded to, it sounds like your issues are to do with ADHD (or ADD if you want) rather than specifically Aspergers. I'm diagnosed with ADHD - predominately inattentive, and I can relate to all your actions. This is just my suggestion, but I think your long term strategy should be focused on how to be able to handle these mindless, repetitive tasks rather than avoiding them. Even if you can avoid data entry right now, this problem will plague you forever. It sounds like you haven't really looked into proper diagnosis and treatment, so maybe you should. Also, there are ways to alleviate it without pills, if you are worried about that.

Interestingly I was thinking while doing my own mindless data entry job that it was perfect for someone with aspergers. Straight forward, black and white, no grey areas, pretty impossible to mess up and in my case at least I find repetition somewhat therapeutic. But on the other hand, we aspies are terrible for being under stimulated, usually because we work so fast.