Does your job bore you? Are you not too interested in your tasks? When the workday begins, are you already looking forward to the end of it? Do you feel your potential is wasted?
Boreout syndrome is less well known than burnout syndrome. In fact, the symptoms can be similar so they can be confused. Let us see how to recognise boreout syndrome and how to alleviate or avoid it.
What is boreout syndrome
We could say that boreout means being fed up with boredom. Homer Simpson perpetrated the myth of how cool it is to work as little as possible. But the truth is that we need to feel useful. Spending hours at work with nothing to do or nothing valuable to contribute can be exasperating.
Boreout syndrome tends to affect office workers more than people in manual jobs or jobs dedicated to helping others.
Your role may not be well defined and you do not know very well how to add value. Perhaps your boss(es) reserve interesting tasks for themselves or their circle of trust. You may have ended up in your job due to pressures from your environment, although you would have liked to dedicate yourself to something else. Perhaps you lacked options because the job market was complicated.
There are several options for ending up with boreout syndrome. The result can be summarised in these three factors:
Boredom
You feel listless and apathetic. You do not know what to do because you lack tasks. Therefore, the working day becomes eternal.
Underchallenged
You feel that you could perform more. But the jobs they give you do not demand enough of you. You feel wasted with monotonous or overly simple tasks.
Disinterest
You are going to work to earn your bread. But you do not really feel identified with your work. You have no interest in the sector you work in, the functions of your department or your own functions. You do not see too much sense in it nor do you feel that you add value.
Symptoms of boreout syndrome
You feel unhappy with your professional situation. You feel reluctant when at work, or just thinking about having to go to work. Probably, you are unmotivated and have a hard time concentrating.
You do not perform well and you lack creativity. Aso, you feel frustrated and handicapped for not realising your potential. This may be due to your own lack of attitude or to the organisational and leadership mechanisms in your company.
You may even experience chronic fatigue. Muscle problems and other signs of stress can also be among the symptoms.
Perhaps you feel inclined to harmful and sabotaging actions against yourself, your boss or colleagues.
Strategies to hide boreout syndrome
The above mentioned lack of creativity refers to productive ideas. However, when it comes to inventing strategies and creating habits to cover up the boreout syndrome, paradoxically the worker is not lacking creativity.
To appear busy and even stressed (not wanting to be less than your peers) you invent several strategies.
Perhaps you stretch tasks or projects so that they appear to take longer and be more complex than they are. You could finish them before the deadline. But why; if that way you can have some peace and fill your working hours.
Another possible strategy is to compress the work. That means working in a concentrated, fast and efficient way on a task to finish it as soon as possible. Of course, the task is not delivered until the deadline set by the boss. Because in this way you gain free time to devote yourself to private affairs.
That way you can surf the internet, entertain yourself on social media, plan leisure activities and holidays, shop online, chat with colleagues, etc.
How to get out of boreout syndrome
You may think that not lifting a finger at work is great. But realise that in the long run, this is worse. Laziness calls for laziness. The brain atrophies with lack of exercise and effort. In addition, attitudes and habits are sadly often transferred to the private sphere.
So what can you do to overcome boreout syndrome? Let us see some ideas and questions to reflect upon.
What do you do in your free time?
First, consider whether boreout syndrome has rubbed off on your free time. How do you spend your free time? Do you use strategies like at work to fill your time? How varied are your leisure activities? How many hours do you spend browsing the internet and social media?
I suggest that you reflect on what motivates, amuses and inspires you. What hobbies have you given up? Recover the hobbies that entertain you. Think about what you would like to learn. Learning is a great antidote to boredom. Physical activity also helps you gain more energy, relieve stress, and create happiness hormones.
What do you like to do?
Second, think about your job. What would you like to do? What are you good at? Which of the tasks at your job do you like? Is there a possibilty that you can take on more tasks of this type?
Ask for new projects or responsibilities
You have already considered what you like and are good at. Which tasks would demand more of you? With which tasks could you add value? Are there possibilities to take on new tasks or responsibilities in your current position so that you feel more useful and demanded?
Request a change of position
If you think that your current role cannot give anymore, are there options to request a change of position? Is there another position or department in which you think you would feel more fulfilled? Do you think you are qualified to apply for that position? If not, what knowledge do you lack and how can you acquire it?
How about a job change?
You may just not see yourself in your current company. Even if you changed your position, you would still be just as little interested in the company activity. In this case, consider where you would like to work.
It may be your same job but in a different company. There are jobs whose content varies greatly from one company to another, one sector to another. However, maybe you have realised that it is your job that bores you and you would like to dedicate yourself to something else. Be that as it may, I suggest you reflect on the following questions.
Do you have the necessary knowledge and experience to apply for the job that you want? If not, what do you need to learn? What holds you back from a job change? What obstacles do you see? How can you dispel doubts and eliminate obstacles and fears? How can you prepare and lay the necessary foundations to dare to change?
Do you suffer from boreout syndrome?
Did you know about boreout syndrome? Do you suffer from it or do you know someone who you think does? If you suffer from it, what can you do to overcome it?
