«Boredom is the most common disease in the world, dear!» — thought Freddie Mercury, and, it seems, he was right. Although today modern technologies and an abundance of opportunities do not seem to leave us a chance to get bored, the phenomenon of boredom has not gone away. Moreover, new conditions began to appear, which are based on this emotion, and one of them is boreout — professional burnout from boredom.
Before many of us had time to get used to the word «burnout» — «burnout» — and start using it in everyday speech, when its «colleague» appeared — the term «boreout», which means burnout from boredom.
And if the main reason for “usual” burnout is excessive enthusiasm, which makes us overwork, forget about the balance of work and personal life, neglect rest and communication with loved ones, then boreout leads to:
lack of new (including interesting) tasks and sufficient intellectual stimulation — doing the same thing every day, the employee quickly gets tired;
lack of any prospects;
lack of a sense of a specific professional goal.
Ruth Stock-Homburg, Lecturer in Management and Human Resource Management at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, puts it this way: «Boreout is based on three pillars: unbearable boredom, a crisis of growth and a crisis of meaning». According to her, not only employees of the creative industries are affected by this condition, but also, for example, employees of retail stores.
«Forbidden» state
Don’t let the word “boredom” confuse you: it only seems that a person with this syndrome is relaxed and lazy — in fact, he often experiences increasing anxiety due to dissatisfaction with his activities or irritation due to the fact that time is wasted.
And most importantly, you don’t really admit it to anyone: when they hear that you are bored, management and colleagues can simply overwhelm you with additional tasks that will hardly be more interesting and meaningful than what you are doing right now. Therefore, by the way, HR specialists do the right thing when they refuse to hire super-qualified employees with an excess of experience — they are the first to get bored.
One way or another, ordinary burnout still looks like a more serious condition in the eyes of others, which should be paid attention to, while boreout is still taboo.
At the same time, as in the situation with habitual burnout, an employee who is burnt out of boredom:
attention, concentration, motivation and energy levels fall,
apathy increases or even depression develops,
increased irritability and/or anxiety,
the meaning of what he does is completely lost,
communication with the team is broken,
health and general well-being worsens (this includes headaches, insomnia, and frequent ailments).
In addition, such an employee:
growing sense of worthlessness,
avoidance strategies are developed to «kill time» at work,
self-esteem drops, feelings of guilt and shame appear.
And this is bad both for the employee himself and for the company, which continues to pay him a salary. At the same time, the problem is often just that the work processes are built incorrectly, there is no employee motivation system, people are given tasks that are too simple, and as a result, there is a large turnover of staff, and the work itself is worthless.
Advice for the Burnt Out
Let’s say you realize that you are «burnt out of boredom.» What’s next? First, experts advise Strive to strike a balance between work and personal life. Yes, it is likely not as severely impaired as in the case of normal burnout, and yet, if you find a passion or hobby that brings you a lot of pleasure, it will become easier to cope with boring professional duties.
Secondly, if there is such a possibility, take a break: take a day off or vacation to bring your physical and mental state back to normal — in any case, this will not be superfluous.
Third, try talking to your immediate supervisor and / or a representative of the personnel department — perhaps you will be able to pick up a more interesting scope of work, delegate more complex and responsible tasks.
If there is nothing suitable in your department, you may be offered a position in another department, especially if you have managed to establish yourself as a responsible and professional employee. Of course, you should only do this if you are sure that management will treat your situation with understanding — and / or if you are ready to quit.
It’s a good idea to try to find something pleasant in your current job and focus on these moments, especially if right now you are not ready for drastic changes. If you are still thinking about changing companies, it would be useful to learn new skills — for example, take additional training while you are still working in the same place and you have a constant source of income.
The main thing is to remember: even if now it seems to you that you are an absolutely useless cog in a huge colossus, this will not always be the case. Having found your place, you will again experience both interest, and enthusiasm, and pleasure from the work done.