According to Christian Bourion, author of The Bore-out Syndrome: When Boredom At Work Drives You Crazy, and a professor at French Business School ICN, 30% of employees suffer from bore-out.
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Thiswork-related illness is sort of the opposite ofburnout, that is to say, that it is not the result of being overworked, but rather of being bored at work. For example, when an employee completes untaxing or frustrating tasks. Bore-out affects many workers who feel trapped in an unrewarding job, and who see no opportunity to progress in the workplace.
Bore-out can result in a loss of self-esteem and seriousdepression. Symptoms include a feeling of sadness which causes people to feel out of touch with reality and to be very emotional, plagued by negative thoughts. Feeling anxious at work is another symptom of bore-out, in addition to a loss of motivation and the sensation of being unable to carry out daily tasks.
How can you regain your confidence and feel fulfilled at work?
There are several solutions available to those who want to escape the clutches of bore-out. The first is to take a step back from work and the professional world, in order to better understand what we want to get out of our working lives, and to avoid painful symptoms from becoming normal in everyday life.
This also allows us to avoid simply throwing ourselves blindly into a job that we don’t particularly want, or that makes us long for what we had before. In this case, committing to other activities which are more fulfilling can be very useful as a means of finding a new burst of life. This could include creating a website or signing up to a course.
Finally, a career change can save your life. Resigning is sometimes necessary to break out of a dull and depressing daily grind. However, before taking this step, remember that a discussion with senior management can help your superiors to become aware of the level of boredom you are dealing with, so they can avoid it happening again in the future. A positive attitude is above all the best solution to take a broader view and say goodbye to bore-out for good.
