Maria V.Dimitrova

Author of article

September 20, 2019

Date

Job Boredom and How To Avoid It

Even if you have always considered “interesting and fulfilling jobs” to be luxury or people who quit their jobs because of job boredom to be capricious, you might need to rethink your point of view. Scientific research has provided evidence about the significance of finding a job that is fulfilling or at least that doesn’t bore you on a regular basis because job boredom affects people’s health and personal life negatively. And it turns out that job boredom has a bigger negative effect on some individuals than others.

So what kind of people are more negatively affected by job boredom? These are the people whose levels of extraversion and openness to experience are higher than in other people. Psychometric tests and Ayurveda tests can help you determine whether you fall into this category. If you like communicating with a lot of people, travelling, discovering things, being physically and mentally active, and if you tend to be more curious about life in general and search for purpose in the things you do, chances are you are one of these people. According to the ancient science of Ayurveda LINK), these individuals have more of the elements Air and Fire in themselves and less of the element Earth.

Searching for a meaningful job is becoming a wide-spreading trend. Nathaniel Koloc states in Harvard Business Review, “What Job Candidates Really Want: Meaningful Work”, that people crave purpose at work - an opportunity to provide meaning and fulfillment. He writes about a Price-Waterhouse study that found “engaged employees are 50% more productive and 33% more profitable. They are also responsible for 56% higher customer loyalty scores and correlated with 44% higher retention rates, leading to bigger gains in productivity over the long run.”  That is why research on job boredom is important for companies too.

What factors should you consider when choosing your career path?

·         Whether you are an extrovert or an introvert

·         Whether when doing something you are more focused in your motivation on the final result or the process

·         Whether you have a really strong need for movement or you don’t mind sitting in one place for longer periods of time

·         Whether you enjoy solving logical tasks, using your imagination or performing tasks that require precision

·         Whether your need for emotional food is very big compared to others or not so much

·         Whether you would like to see your work as a valuable contribution to the health and well-being of people

After considering these factors, you need to decide what proportion each of them should have in your job. For example, if you enjoy your job as an IT freelancer and you are an extrovert by nature, working from home might seem comfortable at first, however, in the long term job boredom can hit not because of the type of tasks but because of the lack of social contacts. In this case, you need to find a way to provide yourself with enough socializing. A possible solution is working in a shared office space.

Some companies give their employees the opportunity to work 1 or 2 days from home and the rest of the working week in the office if the type of job allows such an arrangement. This kind of flexibility is also a way to avoid job boredom and to make returning to the office something that you desire and enjoy because it structures your day and gives you a chance to communicate with the other people from the team. It is a good idea to speak with your manager and see if this system of working is appropriate for your job. Working entirely from home requires a high level of self-discipline and introversion.

Activities in the spare time that diminish the effects of job boredom

If you have a job that you find rather boring, start searching for work that is more suitable for you. During the transition, while you are looking for a new professional path but still doing the boring job in order to have a regular source of income, you can try to reduce the negative effects of job boredom. Researchers say that need satisfaction during the evening may diminish the extent to which depressive feelings experienced at work spill over to the evening at home. They recommend that to ensure daily well-being you have to satisfy these basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This means finding hobbies that give you the opportunity to be creative, to use your skills and share your interests with like-minded people.  You should engage in activities that fill you with a sense of joy and purpose.

Self-respect is closely related to a person’s striving for living a meaningful life that satisfies his or her soul’s needs and deep-set desires. Even if you are temporarily working something that you find very boring just for the income, make sure that you are moving in a direction that is healthier for you. Invest in professional help to discover what professional sphere is better for you and also invest in the trainings you need in order to make the desired transition. You are worth it!