Your mental health at work is not at the top? Do you spend more time putting up with work than enjoying it? You're bored ? If it can reassure you, you are not alone.
At the end of 2021, a study by Opinion Way for the firm Elevo revealed that 89% of French people think that people are bored at work. This feeling can also cause real suffering on a daily basis, which is called bore-out. Are you affected by this occupational disease?
What is boreout?
Bore out, like burnout and brownout, is a psychosocial risk. The professional burnout that we hear a lot about, has the same purpose as the boreout: both create professional exhaustion. Their causes are, however, different: the first is often linked to work overload, while the second is linked to tasks that are not very interesting or not enough in relation to the volume of time, which makes work boring. Although boredom is an emotion that can be beneficial when it allows you to take distance and reflect on yourself, it can become a real torture when it makes you feel guilty, makes you ashamed, or even creates a loss. of self-esteem.
What are the causes of boreout?
Incomplete or insufficient workload
When a heavy workload can cause stress, the opposite can also create discomfort.
The impression of not being useful: what am I good for?
Because they may lack meaning for you, are not aligned with your values or you do not understand their purpose, the missions assigned to you bore you, do not stimulate you. This contributes to devaluing the work you do.
Tasks that are outside your area of expertise
The workload is not the problem, the problem is the missions of your job description do not correspond to you. Maybe they were made for you but aren't anymore? Sometimes it is also linked to the fact that your superiors delegate tasks to you that add unstimulating work to you.
Forced presenteeism
Having strict schedules or bathing in a corporate culture where departures before a certain time are judged by each other can also generate bore-out, especially when the workload is low compared to the time of attendance. imposed.
Symptoms of bore out not to be overlooked
While burnout often stems from work-related stress, people affected by boreout, which comes from boredom, may experience the following symptoms:
- signs of weariness
- impatience
- tensions
- irritability
- chronic fatigue
- sleep disorders, insomnia
- feeling of exhaustion
- low motivation
- low self-esteem
- psychic suffering
- physical symptoms
- cynicism
- depression
To prevent suffering at work, it is important to be aware of the first indicators of stress and other unpleasant feelings related to work. Faced with psychological exhaustion, do not hesitate to ask for help from occupational medicine, your doctor or a psychologist who can accompany you and/or help you obtain a stoppage. work if needed.
Bore out: to each cause its solution!
As an employee, you are often the best placed to improve your quality of life. You can indeed try to understand what are your main stressors at work or boredom. Acting to resolve them can be all the more stimulating when the initiative comes from within.
What if I lack work?
If your disengagement comes from the fact that you lack work, it is because you have free time. This extra time at work can be something heavy, like a real opportunity for you.
Heavy, because it can be guilt-inducing to see everyone working while you don't know what to do with your ten fingers. Because in France, being bored at work is taboo and it is almost better perceived to say that you are burnt out. But it is a reality and you are far from alone in this case. Even if Jean Mi next to your desk staring at his PC, who says he doesn't have as much work as you? Don't be afraid to talk to your employer and tell them that the situation is not for you. Perhaps busy with his tasks, he does not realize that some of his employees do not have enough. Just be careful to prepare your request for additional work well so that it stimulates you enough, otherwise you could be bored at work for other reasons.
An opportunity, because it may be an opportunity for you to use this time to do activities that motivate you and can be useful to your business. You can also take the opportunity to ask yourself and reflect on yourself and your needs. What would you like to achieve professionally? What impact do you want to have through your work?
If I wonder what am I for?
Sometimes the feeling of uselessness can come from a mismatch between your values and those of your missions. Do you lack meaning in what you do and you struggle to invest yourself? Maybe try to figure out what getting the job done means to you. Do you think that if your work was not done, no one would see the difference in the company? Do you have the impression that it does not lead to concrete results? You can first speak with your employer to get clarification on your role in the company. If your lack of meaning goes to the point of creating ethical suffering for you, it may be time to consider retraining in a structure more aligned with your values.
If I perform tasks that are outside my area of expertise?
If you realize that your job bores you, even if it's the job you wanted to apply for, it's best to talk to your employer. Perhaps the organization of work does not correspond to what you expected, for example. Perhaps your boredom is also linked to a discrepancy between the missions of your job description and your daily tasks.
Take the lead on certain topics. Even if you are not asked to do so, showing your skills can help your manager or employer better understand your strengths.
Also identify what you like and what doesn't suit you to help your employer understand what would suit you best in terms of missions. You are also legitimate to say that you do not want to carry out such and such a task, apart from your job description.
If you don't really know what you like to do, you're lost and you don't know how to explain to your employer what you want, you can also do a skills assessment to take stock of yourself and your needs at the level professional.
If the corporate culture advocates presenteeism?
Psychological constraints such as presenteeism may not suit you and create an overload of stress in you. If so, maybe you can start by discussing the terms of telecommuting with your employer. You can also talk about it to your colleagues to open a discussion on the subject. Perhaps they, too, would finally feel in a less rigid frame. If, on the other hand, the discussion is closed on the employer's side, you could perhaps consider changing to a more flexible company.
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