Bureaucracy is mind-numbing

[sister_luck]

I did all the marking and I wrote all the evaluations - and I can see the point of those - it's all part of the job description and I knew all about that when I chose this job, but now I'm in the middle of a task I didn't expect.

I'm alright with alphabetizing (is that even a word?) the exam papers by name and making a separate alphabetized pile of the hand-outs with the exam questions and the students' drafts, but now I have to number every single page with my trusted and leaky red fountain pen. The students write on what we call Klausurbögen which you get when you remove the staples from an exercise book - though there are obviously no holes from the staples in the Klausurbögen because they didn't come out out of an exercise book. So, every Klausurbogen has four pages. The exam papers come up to 244 pages and now I have to number the rest including the backs of hand-outs.

It's got something to do with the filing system. I can sort of see the point but that doesn't make it less tedious.

So, do you have any similar experiences to share? A task that comes along with your job that is boring, has to be done and which you never thought would be part of your vocation?

Comments

[chrissie-linnit.livejournal.com]

I sort of get a calming effect when I'm collating, ordering and numbering piles of documents for a large group of people... and even though I have secretaries/admin people and.... thank the Lord... Graduates(!), I'll always join in. I look on it as mindless work and use that mindless time to daydream...

However, one task I hate loathe with a passion is... photocopying!

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I have been doing loads of photocopying this year. Don't hate it that much. Laminating is worse, I think, because it smells.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Hm. I like laminating, because I like having shiny teaching material that I made myself. Don't mind the smell.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Then I like it too, but now I need to find the laminating machine at school...

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Well, ours is sitting on the table next to the photocopier and you have to ask the secretaries for the laminating sheets, but I guess that won't help you.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

No not really, because (1) I have to buy the laminating sheets myself (I don't dare to ask for them when I need 23 at once) and (2) in the school I work at on Wednesdays the laminating machine switched places since last week and I couldn't be bothered asking one of the other teachers that were all ... ahem ... teaching. I'm hoping to have better luck tomorrow at the other school.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Counting and daydreaming don't mix where I'm concerned. It needs all my attention.
I don't mind filing stuff (though I usually wait too long to get it done) and I don't mind photocopying as long as I've got plenty of time to do it. Had a job at uni that was 70% photocopying - quite enjoyed that for some strange reason.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

This year I have been making paper hats, and I will make a cake tomorrow, but those aren't really boring jobs. Something as stupid as numbering exam pages? Err, binding them together to be filed? I knew I had to do that, but it's a terribly boring matter to make sure you have all the tests and exams of all the students and write down which exam it concerns, which class, which year, etc.