I have to say that working in horticulture in the middle of winter can be a rather boring affair at times! I say this for a couple of reasons, and with my personality, any hint of boredom and I have a strange need to cause mischief of some sort!
The first area that boredom can come from is the fact that there is a lot less work to be done at this time of year, which is really tedious if I’m honest. The work that there is is usually the mulching of every garden bed to within an inch of its life, or raking up leaves from garden beds-both feel like never ending misery at times!
Another reason why I’m finding things tough at the moment is the fact that I’m finding it tough to deal with my colleagues. The trouble with them is that I’m struggling to get any sort of conversation out of them. I know that not everyone wants to talk all the time and I get that, but when you are struggling to get any sort of conversation beyond that required to get the job done for a lot of the time, days can be long. While in-depth conversations aren’t needed or expected and it can be tricky when you don’t have much in common, days go so much quicker when you can have a chat.
When I’m bored, I find that I really struggle with motivation to actually be able to fully get going. When I’m working, I want to be busy and going all day, as the days go quickly and when you look at what you have achieved in that day, you feel good about that. That can be hard when there isn’t much going on!
So, what can I do about this? With the general lack of work due to winter, there isn’t a lot I can do about that-as soon as spring comes around the work will start to increase and I’ll soon be complaining about too much work! With the colleagues who aren’t talking much, I have to keep trying in some way to get them to chat more. They are not bad people, but it would be nice to have days that pass a bit quicker, even if everyone is tired and ready for the weekend!
While I’m still busy dealing with boredom, silent colleagues and a little frustration at work, I’m still studying at home in my spare time, as well as all the usual family things that are standard for most people. Where I can, I’m still looking into what sort of thing I can do related to horticulture that isn’t so physical while also keeping my interest-this may have to wait until next year when my studies have finished so I can devote more time to it, but where I can I’ll have a look.