How do you get through really monotonous office tasks?

Scenario: I’m a fresh college graduate, I return home to Hong Kong. I have ideals but they don’t quite match up with the job market, so I get stuck into something I am actually qualified for: educational research and data entry in an office cubicle. I’m going crazy—it is unnatural for me to sit in one place for 8 hours a day; my eyes hurt from staring at the screen for too long; I hate the florescent lighting; I have piles of data to enter, realms of types to transcribe and all my creativity is quashed but it pays the bills.

Four years later: I’ve long since quit my office job, and am doing what I really love: performing, directing and teaching on the side. I’m making a theatre piece right now about modern office cubicle life. So, to my compatriots who have ever been or are still stuck with mind-numbing tasks or environments, I’m curious:
— What do you do with your mind, either to motivate yourself, escape, or cope with boring tasks? What strategies do you end up developing?