You know the scene: you arrive at work and you see the same people, you’ve heard the conversations so many times before. It’s like the same song playing over and over again, caught in a loop. You sit down at your desk and check your emails from the same people writing in. Same old, same old. You start working and then you have to attend a meeting which seems to go forever. And so your day drags on. How often do you get bored at work? And what are the most boring jobs?
It’s an important question for two reasons. First, because boredom might be a health hazard. According to Psychology Today, scientists reckon you can die of boredom, quite literally. The report cites a study in the 1980s when 7500 British civil servants were interviewed. During that conversation, they were asked whether they got bored at work over the past month. The researchers then tracked them down last year and found that those who reported being bored were 2.5 times more likely to have died of a heart attack. So boredom at work is a problem. How bored are you?
Mind you, one has to take these sorts of studies with a grain of salt. It might be a chicken and egg situation with those British civil servants. Bored people are probably less likely to look after themselves by exercising, eating well and staying stress free. Still if nothing else, these sorts of studies highlight how much of a problem workplace boredom might be.
Part of the problem might be about the boredom of routine. The Oxford Dictionary defines routine as a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed unvarying programme. That’s actually about working in an office and goes to the heart of management which is about doing the same successful thing over and over again. If it gets results, you just keep repeating it.
Some research, picked up by the Houston Chronicle, suggests that overqualified people stuck in jobs they regard as a waste of their education and know-how are more likely to get bored. Which brings us to the second reason why boredom is a problem. If this research is right, then boredom might also reflect the state of economy and job market. Last week, I did a blog entry on the growing army of underemployed workers who have been forced to take jobs with not enough hours, jobs that are not actually utilising all their skills and experience. How many of them would be bored?
Then again, some jobs are more boring than others. I had a neighbour once who was a technical manager at a paint company. His job involved assessing his company’s products against rival brands. He had to watch paint dry, literally, and then test it scientifically by poking it with his finger. Boring jobs identified here include toll booth operator, librarian and security guard when there’s nothing happening. Bank tellers and envelope stuffers are mentioned here while mail sorters and actuarial specialists are cited here
Actually, I think this is unfair. It might be a case of each to their own. I know librarians who love their work and my paint-watching neighbour always told me he had one of the best jobs in the world. And I guess there are some people who get off on things like invoices, meetings, customer service and spreadsheets. They do exist, I’ve known some. Everyone is different.
So what do you do if you’re bored at work? Web Worker Daily has some terrific ideas: get those endorphin levels up with more exercise, change the way you do routine tasks, pick up some new and challenging role, find a new hobby or non-work related project, anything from music to cooking, set yourself some goals and use that as an exercise in self-improvement and get plenty of sleep.
If all else fails, I would recommend this list of fantastic web sites to visit. Some of these sites, like The Onion and Lifehacker are my faves. Then again, you can always quit your job and find something exciting to do. Like being a movie star or space explorer.
Do you get bored at work? How bad does it get? What’s the most boring part of your job? How do you deal with it? What strategies would you employ to fight workplace boredom?
It’s an important question for two reasons. First, because boredom might be a health hazard. According to Psychology Today, scientists reckon you can die of boredom, quite literally. The report cites a study in the 1980s when 7500 British civil servants were interviewed. During that conversation, they were asked whether they got bored at work over the past month. The researchers then tracked them down last year and found that those who reported being bored were 2.5 times more likely to have died of a heart attack. So boredom at work is a problem. How bored are you?
Mind you, one has to take these sorts of studies with a grain of salt. It might be a chicken and egg situation with those British civil servants. Bored people are probably less likely to look after themselves by exercising, eating well and staying stress free. Still if nothing else, these sorts of studies highlight how much of a problem workplace boredom might be.
Part of the problem might be about the boredom of routine. The Oxford Dictionary defines routine as a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed unvarying programme. That’s actually about working in an office and goes to the heart of management which is about doing the same successful thing over and over again. If it gets results, you just keep repeating it.
Some research, picked up by the Houston Chronicle, suggests that overqualified people stuck in jobs they regard as a waste of their education and know-how are more likely to get bored. Which brings us to the second reason why boredom is a problem. If this research is right, then boredom might also reflect the state of economy and job market. Last week, I did a blog entry on the growing army of underemployed workers who have been forced to take jobs with not enough hours, jobs that are not actually utilising all their skills and experience. How many of them would be bored?Then again, some jobs are more boring than others. I had a neighbour once who was a technical manager at a paint company. His job involved assessing his company’s products against rival brands. He had to watch paint dry, literally, and then test it scientifically by poking it with his finger. Boring jobs identified here include toll booth operator, librarian and security guard when there’s nothing happening. Bank tellers and envelope stuffers are mentioned here while mail sorters and actuarial specialists are cited here
Actually, I think this is unfair. It might be a case of each to their own. I know librarians who love their work and my paint-watching neighbour always told me he had one of the best jobs in the world. And I guess there are some people who get off on things like invoices, meetings, customer service and spreadsheets. They do exist, I’ve known some. Everyone is different.
So what do you do if you’re bored at work? Web Worker Daily has some terrific ideas: get those endorphin levels up with more exercise, change the way you do routine tasks, pick up some new and challenging role, find a new hobby or non-work related project, anything from music to cooking, set yourself some goals and use that as an exercise in self-improvement and get plenty of sleep.
If all else fails, I would recommend this list of fantastic web sites to visit. Some of these sites, like The Onion and Lifehacker are my faves. Then again, you can always quit your job and find something exciting to do. Like being a movie star or space explorer.
Do you get bored at work? How bad does it get? What’s the most boring part of your job? How do you deal with it? What strategies would you employ to fight workplace boredom?
