The ancient educator, Marcus Fabius Quintilian, said, "It is easier to do many things than to do one thing continuously for a long time.
" It's true...
even the most interesting activities can become boring after a while.
And what happens when you get bored? You can't concentrate, you become restless, and it takes all your energy just to get through the task at hand.
What happens to employee motivation when your employees get bored? They can't concentrate, they become restless, production slows, tempers flair...
or - worst case scenario - they quit.
So what's a supervisor to do? Variety and Flexibility Helps It's easy for employees to fall into a rut and lose energy by doing the same task over and over.
This is especially true if the task is tedious.
Variety is energizing because at the beginning of doing a task a person's energy is at its highest.
That's why switching tasks during the day is energizing.
Even if the tedious task is the employee's main task, doing a different task for a short while will make a big difference.
Here are three ways to add the variety and flexibility that will energize your employees.

1. Enjoyable Tasks: Ask your employees which tasks they enjoy the most, and what new tasks they would enjoy doing.
   Try to incorporate something they really enjoy into their workday.
   Enjoyment increases energy.
   
2. Vary Types of Tasks: Try to offer a variety of mental tasks, physical tasks, or creative tasks.
   For example, If they are working on something tedious, have them switch to something that is more physical or creative.
   That way, the part of the brain used in the task gets a chance to rest.
   
3. Empowerment: Allow employees to choose when they want to switch from one task to another.
   This flexibility will empower them to do the work that is best suited to the way they feel at the moment.
   Everybody's energy level is different, and people lose energy at different rates.
   Being able to switch a task when needed is like giving someone the power to turn on the on/off switch to an energy boost.
   

Imagine this...

Joe is sitting at his desk crunching numbers on a long-term project.
He has been working on the same task for the project for several days in a row.
Sue, his supervisor, comes by and checks on him.
Joe is a dedicated worker, but he is looking tired and depleted from doing the same activity, hour after hour.

Instead of just telling Joe to, "Keep up the good work," His supervisor, understands his burnout potential and offers him some options.

• She looks to see if another project has one or more tasks that she knows Joe would enjoy working on.
  
• She offers Joe the option of working on one of those tasks the very next day.
  
• She gives him the authority to switch between activities when he feels he's losing energy.
  This could be after a few hours or it could be each day.
  

This flexibility will help keep Joe energized and focused, and he will be more productive as a result of having variety in his work.
Making sure that your employees not only avoid burnout, but also have the energy they need to be highly motivated is an essential component of workplace leadership.