A nationwide study has revealed the most mind-numbing experiences modern Brits face, with 28 percent claiming it drives them crazy when they have to pick bits of paper from clean laundry because someone left a tissue in their pocket.
Having to scrape dog poo out of the grooves of your shoe with a twig, deleting spam emails one by one, standing behind someone at a check out who can’t find their purse and listening to someone from customer services read out terms and conditions also made the definitive list.
Putting up a tent, listening to your dad or father-in-law tell you about the route they took to get to your house, taking out a heavy bin bag and having it split – and having to help your child make something elaborate for their homework are also tasks which send Brits round the bend, according to the survey.
Yet the two most soul-destroying tasks emerged as cleaning the bath and waiting in a call-centre queue, both with 44 percent of the vote.
The study of 2,000 Brits, by cybersecurity company Kaspersky, also found that more than half (51 percent) of us will always delay installing software updates on our devices, as we find it too boring to wait for them to run.
Also making the top 50 list of the most mind-numbing experiences for modern Brits were looking at someone’s holiday snaps on their phone (18 percent) and waiting for your device to update to a new operating system (22 percent).
And according to the data, even those we love can drive us to distraction, with 15 percent of Brits admitting they find it infuriating when their partner asks them to explain the plot of a show they’ve been watching as they haven’t been paying attention.
In fact, the study found that the average Brit claims to spend an average of FOUR hours a day doing tedious tasks.
51 percent agree that life is full of boring things that must be done and there is no point in complaining, while an optimistic 20 percent claim that by doing tedious tasks, you make the fun ones more exciting.
21 percent of Brits claim there is nothing wrong with being bored – and 13 percent even claim to find doing tedious tasks oddly satisfying.
To help Brits deal with our daily boring tasks, Kaspersky has teamed up with Shona Vertue, leading wellness influencer, to create a wellness programme called Pain in The Neck: because while no one wants a software update, we all know we need them.
It’s also designed to protect your posture, specifically your neck from all that laptop use Check out Shona’s instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/shona_vertue/?hl=en.
TOP FIFTY MOST IRRITATING TASKS, ACCORDING TO BRITS
- Scrubbing the bath – 44%
- Waiting in a call centre queue – 44%
- Cleaning the oven – 36%
- Deleting spam emails – 33%
- Listening to someone from customer services read out the terms and conditions – 32%
- Filling in online forms which don’t work – 31%
- Finding the start of the sellotape – 30%
- Picking off bits of paper from laundry after someone left a tissue in their pocket – 28%
- Waiting in for a delivery to arrive – 27%
- Taking a call from automated recording – 26%
- Having to scrape dog mess out of the grooves of your shoe with a twig – 24%
- Waiting to for a film to load/buffer (the spinning wheel of death) – 24%
- Having to change passwords – on every device you own – 23%
- Waiting in a queue at the post office – 23%
- Changing the sheets – 22%
- Waiting for your phone or computer to update to a new operating system – 22%
- Weeding – 22%
- Getting bird poo off your car – 21%
- Having to wait while someone finds their purse at a checkout – 20%
- Vacuuming behind furniture – 20%
- Reading the instructions of flat pack furniture – 19%
- Picking up a missed delivery from the depot – 19%
- Restarting your Wi-Fi router – 19%
- Trying to find a phone charger – 19%
- Looking at someone else’s holiday pics on their phone – 18%
- Getting a full bin bag out of the bin and it splitting – 7%
- Having to make small talk with a neighbour – 17%
- Trying to match up socks – 16%
- Peeling potatoes – 16%
- Your partner asking you to explain the plot of a TV show because they haven’t been concentrating – 15%
- Putting shopping away – 15%
- Hunting for the remote control – 15%
- Cleaning a cheese grater – 14%
- Having to sign into Netflix again – 14%
- Rewashing dishes by hand after the dishwasher didn’t do a good enough job – 14%
- Freeing trapped paper in a printer – 13%
- Ensuring all your emails are read – 13%
- Trying to end/amend a mobile phone contract – 12%
- Cleaning out the kitchen recycling bin – 12%
- Helping older relatives with technology – 11%
- Listening to someone tell you about their dream – 12%
- Looking at a friend/work colleagues baby pictures 12%
- Listening to your father/father-in law tell you about the route they took to get to your house – 9%
- Sewing on a button – 9%
- Waiting for your bluetooth speaker or headphones to connect – 8%
- Putting up a tent – 7%
- Picking up spilt peppercorns – 7%
- Getting the right video meeting link and password – 7%
- Having to help your child make something for their homework – 6%
- Waiting for your pics to post on social media – 6%
