About our guest author: Melody Starya Mobley’s experiences as the first black woman serving as a forester for the USDA are remarkable: both for the firsts she embodies and for the years of abuse and oppression she experienced within that system.
Now, Melody shares her personal stories to create positive change for groups historically excluded from accessing American natural spaces.
With the few federal protections that exist currently being stripped away, it’s more important than ever for stories like these to be told. Learn more about Melody and watch her documentary The Dark White Forest on her website at starya.org.
Image credit: Kirth Bobb
Forestry work can be rewarding … and boring
It is often very difficult to maintain good mental health in rural communities that consist of 100 to 200 people. It doesn’t help when the tasks of forestry work lead to isolation and repetition. In my three-part series “Strategies for Surviving,” I describe ways to combat common challenges to mental health, especially in forestry work, and avoid or mitigate afflictions like clinical depression.
Today’s post addresses how large, repetitive projects like tree planting are often very boring. Doing the same activity over and over can be very detrimental to mental health, but there are ways to overcome some of the boredom. I will use tree planting as an example, but these tools can be used on any large, repetitive project.
Strategies for surviving boredom and repetition while on the job
1 – Add purposeful variety.
First, try to break the project into smaller tasks and rotate through each task. With auger tree planting, for example: plant, drill holes with the auger, and carry trees to load individual carriers back and forth to the planters. Mixing these tasks up rather than trying to do all of the drilling or carrying at once helps to make your day feel more varied.
Mental health is as (if not more) important than physical health, and both can be related. If you are physically hurt from thinning or planting trees all day for weeks on end, it is tough to be mentally healthy. Variety can help your body avoid repetitive strain injuries.
2 – Implement helpful distractions.
Next, find distractions like listening to music. If there is not a system to play music for everyone, carry a small device with headphones if your supervisor says it is okay. Keep the volume low enough to hear your colleagues’ and supervisor’s instructions and warnings if there are hazards like rolling rocks on the project.
If your supervisor does not support listening to music on the project, respectfully explain that you are trying to be more productive by overcoming the repetitiveness and boredom of the job. If that is not enough, explain, in confidence, that you are maintaining your mental health. If your supervisor remains against the use of music, document the conversation and keep your records in a secure location at home. Remind yourself that the project will not last forever.
3 – Get out of town (and tips for finding transportation).
And in the meantime, try to find ways to get out of town. If you have reliable transportation, travel to a larger town or city to participate in groups where you are not marginalized or isolated. Go to restaurants with more ethnic menus. Go to places where there tend to be people of color and women. And, whenever possible, visit friends and family members.
There was no reliable transportation in the rural communities where I lived as a field forester, and many small communities do not have good public transportation. I needed transportation to access a church of my preferred denomination, to get to a grocery store, find somewhere to get my hair done, find entertainment, and even to get to medical staff that could help me. The lack of reliable transportation is an exacerbated issue here. If you have good public or private transportation, you can usually drive to a place where there are many people who look like you.
I could not afford my own vehicle when I was first starting out. But there are ways to adapt. First, try to make friends with a colleague or townsperson who does have reliable transportation. Ask them if you can go along to a grocery store. Finding other critical transportation is more difficult. Again, find out if a townsperson or colleague will be near a church, hair salon, or event that you need or want to visit. Invite their family to go with you to a fair or festival.
Often people are reluctant to say “no” if they understand the need, so do not be shy about explaining why the event or location is important to you.
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“Strategies for Surviving” is a three-part series launched during National Suicide Prevention Month. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. You can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org (available 24/7, free, and confidential in the U.S. and Canada).
Read more of Melody’s writings
on the American Green blog.