Recognizing the tell-tale signs of boredom

No one feels engaged all of the time at work, but if you are bored, uninspired, unmotivated or unhappy, it’s time to take steps to improve your situation. First you have to have some insight into why you feel the way you do. 

Kelsey Manning of Levo League refers to a 2012 paper written by Psychologist John Eastwood, where he tries to pin down a definition of boredom within the scientific community. “The Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention.” Kelsey states the following; “Eastwood hypothesized that boredom is more than the common refrain, “I have nothing to do!” Someone who is bored wants to have something to do and wants to feel engaged—but isn’t. He defined boredom as, “The aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.” What’s satisfying, of course, will vary from person to person, and so too the nature of boredom itself will vary.”

Boredom can be a sign of real unhappiness and even depression. You may need to understand how this could be affecting you and your entire life.

If what you are experiencing is damaging your friendships, romantic relationships or leaving you unmotivated to do anything, even over a weekend, and if these feelings are flowing over into your personal life, you may need to seek some professional help.

It is also important that employers try to gauge what is happening with their employees, so they too can take action by showing some interest and care before it is too late.


Understanding the differences between boredom and unhappiness.

• Most often, boredom stems from not being challenged enough, whereas unhappiness can stem from a number of other areas such as, a toxic work environment, one’s own insecurities or even the fear of rejection or criticism.
• You may be experiencing bordom if you can’t wait to leave each day. Avoiding getting up in the morning or not wanting the weekend to end, are true signs of feeling disengaged; whereas true unhappiness may have you waking in the night with anxiety or work-related nightmares.
• Not being challenged in the workplace can lead to boredom, which can develop into feelings of unhappiness. Having a ton of work that isn’t challenging, or not being able to grow and develop in your current position, are typical situations where people find themselves feeling bored.

So, what can be done to improve the situation?

1. The first thing is to stop being negative and face reality. Blaming yourself or others for what you are experiencing, will not bring you any closer to understanding the real reason behind your unhappiness. Rather, try to determine exactly what is making you unhappy. Is it boredom, the lack of work-life balance, not utilizing your skills or being surrounded by toxic coworkers? 
2. Look inwardly and take action. Knowing what you know, it is important that you do something to change the situation. This can be anything from realizing what you need to do to motivate oneself, talking to your boss, looking for ways to engage in new projects or making a list of the things that you are good at and what is good about your job. It is important to understand the difference between the job being boring, and you allowing yourself to become bored? You also need to try and figure out what it is you would really like to be doing and how to make it happen.
3. Having a mentor as a sounding-board, may provide you with the guidance you need. They may help you work out what the issues are and what to do about them. 
4. Set specific goals. Writing down some specific goals can motivate you to take action. Having a mentor or accountability buddy, will give you a much better chance of achieving these goals. If you have a good relationship with a coworker or boss, they too can hold you accountable. It is important to reflect on your progress and re-evaluate your situation on a regular basis.
5. If the job is no longer right for you, move on. If you have tried to implement positive changes to re-engage or solve the problem of your boredom or unhappiness, with little or no success, then it may be time to move on. If you have come to realize that you no longer like what you are doing, then it is important for your health and wellbeing, that you consider looking for something else.

Mentors Insync provides the right kind of mentoring as a solution to support employees. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit our website or contact us at: info@mentorsinsync.com.