You think your work can be boring? Right now, as you read this screen and sip your coffee, the mythological king Sisyphus is in Hades, straining to push a rock up a hill for the billionth time, only to have it roll down again for the billionth time. He not only has no coffee breaks, but he also faces the reality of endlessly shoving the same rock up the same hill. It’s his only job. Forever.

The story of Sisyphus works as both a cautionary tale and a metaphor. Zeus condemned him to eternal rock-pushing as punishment for cheating death several times, killing his guests (a social faux pas) and thinking he could outsmart the gods. Don’t make these mistakes, the myth warns, or you too could end up in an infinite loop of aerobic rock-rolling. As a metaphor, the story of Sisyphus represents the individual’s continuous struggle against the recurring absurdities of life. Laborious, unvarying and futile tasks are sometimes referred to as Sisyphean.

But face it: most modern jobs, even the most intellectually challenging, have some element of mind-numbing routine. Even star athletes and artists must endure repetition. For example, the best professional golfers hit several hundred shots during a 72-hole tournament. Golf holes vary, of course, but the fundamental task of using a club to hit a dimpled white ball toward a hole remains the same. Figure many tournaments a year and many practice rounds, and you have a lot of redundant motions. Consider hitters in baseball (they have hundreds of at-bats each year and see thousands of pitches), soap opera performers (some of whom play the same role for decades) and touring musicians (whose fans demand that they perform the same pieces at every concert): REPETITION!

Should we simply accept the absurdity of repeating tasks? Certainly not…and yes. Given that some level of routine comes with most jobs, how can we thrive at work in spite of the Sisyphean challenges we face? Here are some ideas:

  • Embrace the journey and deemphasize the destination – French philosopher Albert Camus urged us to fight against the despair rooted in absurd repetition, but also to reject the unrealistic hope that a life without duplication is possible. Face it, he said: every life has some meaningless, redundant elements. Accept this and live with it. You can still be happy. You might even find that recurring tasks provide a mental vacation, a respite from work elements that can be more fulfilling but also more pressured.
  • Seize the opportunity to improve a skill – Reiteration need not be useless. It’s often a good way to improve performance. That’s why golfers go to the driving range, baseball players take batting practice and actors rehearse. The task becomes easier, and the skill greater, with practice. Moreover, repetition may produce subsidiary benefits. Consider these lines from a poem about Sisyphus in the workplace:

    All lesser workers, you are fakes and frauds
    Avoiding his fate, ceaseless, week on week
    You shun the uphill trudge, the endless plod
    His travail, though, has built a great physique

    This effort, you’ll agree, we must applaud
    The repetitions, every coach would laud
    Though he (and you) may sometimes curse the gods
    Check out those biceps and impressive quads

    Who doesn’t want bigger biceps and stronger quads? You may also find that taking pride in competence gained, and even perfection approached, reduces workplace stress. Those weekly time and expense reports may be drudgery, but you can take satisfaction in finishing them accurately and quickly and getting faster over time.

  • When possible, alter the routine – According to one version of the myth, Sisyphus removed a bit of dirt from the top of his hill with every trip. That way, he both changed the task and made it incrementally easier. Having some control over work processes can reduce stress significantly. If you are the boss, give this kind of autonomy to your people. If you have a boss, ask for this flexibility.

You probably also have an option not open to Sisyphus: you can find another job. If you do a search, explore not the only stimulating and interesting aspects, but also the corners where drudgery might lurk. Ask the interviewers, “Which parts of this position are likely to be the most repetitious and boring?” Sometimes, the best work not only has more of the elements that give work purpose, but also fewer of the factors that make the workplace a grind. Every job has some stones that need rolling, but you might as well do all you can to avoid the rock-and-roll hell of Sisyphus.