When training becomes boring:

Make no mistake, there will be times when training seems boring... this would be because the topics covered may not be new to the participant, the facilitator is boring, or maybe both. There are other possible reaons, but it is really not the intent fo this article to enumerate them all - hell, its hardly the intent to even talk about the training being boring from the participant's viewpoint.

So what am I alluding to? What if the conduct of trainings are atarting to get boring to the facilitator? What would be the usual reaons for such sitiations? Well for starters, the training (or trainings) could be routine - in ohter words, conducting them becomes routinary in both content and execution that there might come a time when the facilitator will start to feel mechanical - hence, bored.

This does not atutomatically mean the training in particular - one being conducted by a bored facilitator, will be equally boring (though the possibilities of such happening are higher than when handled by, say, an inspired facilitator). After all, it was Leah Salonga who once quipped that in her near routinary rendition of Kim in the stage musical Miss Saigon, she had bouts of boredom and inspiration - who in the audience could tell one state from another? Far as they were concerned, Leah seemed not to have a bad night.

How'd she get away with it? Sheer discipline - and yes, really good muscle memory. After all, routine can be remembered until it becomes an internal process - one done subconsciously... like Tiger Wood's great swings (at least, to Tiger). Poetry in motion - and he makes it look so easy... just as Leah makes msucals look so easy and effortless. What has this got to do with a facilitator? Similarly, if the things one does becomse routinary... including training, then it can be done in auto pilot mode - even in non-inspiring days (or nights).

Four paragraphs down... what am I trying to say? I sometimes get into such a mood - or phase, and in recent weeks, this has seemingly increased in frequency. Yet its not just the routine that I notice as reason for this... it could also be the fatigue. Having a heavy load... averaging around 100 hours of work in a month - guess that can be tiring, and non-restful weekends do not help the cause either.

Yes, it can get tiring... yes it can get boring... so why do I still do it?

Trainings help individuals directly, and despite how I may feel, I still find this an altruistic exercise. I like helping people, and in trainings I help them improve - be it be learning a new skill, adding to their knowledge... or even just looking at (and accepting) a different way of thinking. I meet a lot of people, and even logn after the training is done, these people still remmeber me. That does nto happen if you did not have some kind of impact in their lives - whether professional or personal.

To me, upon seeing how I've helped - and these can be seen at the end fo the training itself (instant feedback can be had), which can really just erase the 'feeling bored, nothing new' feeling... and I just think, 'yeah, this is still worth it'.

Question is... how long before 'what is worth it' finally gets overcome with 'this is boring'? Guess I'll know when that time comes, since it would be the day I stop trainings and pursue other things. In which case, I might just give myself a few months before I start getting the itch to train again. Its happened before, it cna happen again.

Meanwhile, I just need to look at trainings in a different perspective, or find new ways of approaching the same training, to keep things fresh... and maybe, just maybe... I need to have more rest days... this way, I don't burn out.