We’ve all heard about burnout and its impact on people’s productivity levels, as well as in their personal and professional lives. Awareness of this problem is undoubtedly positive and should be celebrated.

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But what about burnout’s opposite, equally-important but practically-unknown sibling boreout?

“Many Linux users like the Mac OS,” said Tim Ney, executive director of the Gnome Foundation of Boston, a consortium formed to back the Gnome user interface on desktop systems. Why is 'boreout' on the rise? For those of us that aren't key workers and are, instead, spending the day tapping at laptops, work has metamorphosed into something very different than we're used to.

In 2016, a study led by Udemy revealed that 4 out of 10 Americans have reported feeling bored at work. That’s nearly half the workforce in the US.

Though boreout shares certain similarities with burnout, psychologist Steve Savels lays out their differences best: “With a bore-out, you get stuck in your “comfort zone” for too long, until your personal development comes to a halt. A burn-out happens when you stay for too long in your “effort zone”, until all your energy is gone”.

So what on earth is boreout, how come nobody talks about it and what can you do if you suffer from it?

What on earth is boreout?

The term was initially coined by Swiss authors Philippe Rothlin and Peter Werder in their book Diagnose Boreout. Accordingly, boreout takes place when there’s a gap between working time and the volume of tasks to be performed, which leads to chronic boredom and massive disengagement.

Bored-out employees feel frustrated, sad and socially useless due to not being able to contribute to the development of the business. This causes decreased self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety.

In the long run, boreout can lead to depression and other serious health issues. According to Oxford’s International Journal of Epidemiology, bored workers are 3 times more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases. Similarly, a worker “being bored is more likely to die younger”.

Demographics-wise, according to Udemy, more women report being bored than men (48% vs 39%). Likewise, millennials are nearly twice more likely to experience boredom at work.

Boreout’s reach and impact are impressive. More surprising though, is the fact that we aren’t talking about it as much as we should. That leads us to the next part.

How come nobody talks about boreout?

Society has exceedingly high regard for professional success, but a considerable aversion towards anything that resembles the opposite. As a result, admitting being bored at work is shameful, embarrassing and self-devaluing.

How can you openly admit you’re paid to do little (or nothing) when there’s so much unemployment? You spoiled, ungrateful person! How can you admit that your skills and knowledge are being so poorly used? You unprepared, incompetent being!

With that, it’s also easier to comprehend why burnout grabs more attention than its evil sibling. Working your brain until overheating implies a noble effort and big responsibilities, which triggers the empathy of others more easily. As American author Julia Cameron mentions in her book The Artist’s Way, “The sentence ‘I have a lot of work’ contains a certain unassailable air of good and duty”.

The social dynamics around this hinder the mere existence of a discussion about boreout in the first place. But this has to change. There’s no shame or embarrassment in talking about your afflictions in regards to boredom at work. You must prioritize your mental, physical, personal and professional integrity over the “social repercussions” of admitting boreout. Those who truly care about you will understand and support you.

What to do if you suffer from boreout?

Your strategy to fight boreout should be aimed at taking increasingly bigger measures to end it altogether. If one doesn’t work, move on to the next one, and so on.

Talk about it

As mentioned a few lines above, there’s no shame in admitting boreout. Ignore any judgment that may come as a result. Talk about it with your friends, relatives, psychologist (if you have one) and most importantly, your manager; the person with the biggest power to help you fight boreout.

Share your frustrations, ask for more responsibilities and challenges. The sole fact of letting it out will already contribute a great deal to making you feel better. It may even result in strengthening your relationship with your manager and other coworkers.

Be proactive

If asking for new endeavors doesn’t work, be proactive. Share ideas and offer suggestions. You may have already noticed inefficiencies or instances that have potential for improvement. Propose a plan to address them. Your involvement in projects that are born thanks to your intervention will boost your engagement (and give you a lot of work).

Look for internal mobility

If your manager has no interest in your proposals for adding value, consider speaking to your Human Resources for other opportunities within your company. Do a similar exercise as above and try to identify opportunities within other teams where you can contribute with your work. Most importantly, make sure that this aligns with your personal goals and values.

What you’re looking for may be right in front of your nose! (Or with the team next door).

Develop your skills and professional network

Use the time you’ll have at work to harvest valuable professional relationships. Engage with your colleagues, hang out with people from other teams, be curious and ask questions. In addition, attend networking events in the domains of your interests. Interact with communities of individuals who are in a position you’d like to be in one day. Those you meet today may give you a hand for the opportunity of your life tomorrow.

In parallel, develop the skills that interest you and contribute to the realization of your personal goals. Your company may have privileged access to training tools, use that to your advantage. Alternatively, there is free or affordable training on just about anything out there, like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare or even Youtube.

In short, turn your extra time into an opportunity to thrive as a professional and as an individual!

Look for external opportunities

If none of your previous measures yield positive results, it’s time to start looking for external opportunities. The company you’re working for does not deserve the value you’re able to provide, and mutual respect is a must-have value in any professional relationship.

It’s also possible that your boreout is a manifestation of a wakeup call that urges a major career change. If that’s the case, go for it!

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Whatever you decide your next step to be, make sure that it’s something that excites you and it’s in alignment with your skills, values, and personal motivations. If bore-out comes to your life as an open door for its betterment, so be it 🙂

Burnoutis a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive demands and prolonged stress that leads to serious, often long-term, health challenges. It’s recognized as a widespread problem in many fields and all age groups.Early recognition and intervention at an individual, corporate, and societal level is key to avoiding the more serious health problems it causes.

But what about ‘boreout’? Essentially the opposite of burnout but, in many cases, with similar symptoms, this less well-known issue refers to mental underload at work due to lack of a sufficient workload or challenge.

Most of us have experienced excess stress and, at one time or another, felt under–challenged.In short bursts, this isn’t an issue. But if it becomes a chronic situation, lasting for long periods of time, both too much and too little stress can cause serious health problems. Making it more complicated is the fact that whatis“too much” or “not enough” stress depends on the individual. We all respond to stress differently.

Spotting the Signs

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Perhaps because of the Coronavirus-related lockdown, we’ve seen some evidence of boreout here at Firstbeat this spring, with some measurements showing increased ‘green moments’. However, interpreting the data must be done with caution.

It is important to remember that the green color in a Firstbeat graph simply means that the parasympathetic (‘rest & digest’) nervous system is dominant over the sympathetic (‘fight or flight’) system. In most cases this tells us a person is experiencing good recovery, but in some cases, it might indicate boreout as well.

Just as stress (shown as red in a Firstbeat graph) can be positive or negative, recovery, too, can have many shades and levels.We need to understand the context during the measurement, as well as individual differences in stress response – and then find the right individual balance between stress and recovery.

Good Recovery, Different Context

Figure 1below illustrates the importance of context.It shows a busy woman who has managed to integrate recovery into her day throughpeaceful, focused work in the morningand a conscious relaxation break after work. This is a good result and illustrates that we can learn to manage our stress levels by structuring our days in a meaningful way.

Fig. 1. A busy day includes recovery moments during focused work and a breathing exercise.

Figure2 below shows a person whose routines changed dramatically in the lockdown.Her resultshows more recovery in her workday compared to usual, but her subjective experience was that she missed her usual activity and felt bored. This – to her – was a sign that she needed to challenge herself moredespite the graph looking like a good result at first glance.

If she keeps feeling under-challenged and experiencing boreout, this can actually startto have a negative effect on her performance, stress level and sleep. In fact, an appropriately active and challenging day builds sleep pressure, which helps us get to sleep in the evening. On the other hand, lack of sufficient activity prevents sleep pressure from building naturally.

Fig. 2. The workday includes a lot of recovery, which for this person is a sign of insufficient challenge. Physiologically, it is a good result but might suggest signs of acute boreout.

Real Health and Performance Impact

A lot of action-driven extrovertswill relate to the second example. Even if it iscaused by the unusual reality of this spring and will likely pass as the situation “normalizes”, it raises a valuable point.

While boreout might seem like a very unrealistic problem for many who struggle with constant stress and overload, it’s a reality for others whose job is monotonous and lacks challenge. If boreout persists and becomes chronic, it can start turning into physical and mental stress.

Studies have reported an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease and unhealthy lifestyleswith employees who show boreout symptoms. Lower job satisfaction and work performance and higher absence rates have also been reported. Sound familiar? Burnout causes a similar list of issues. Job circumstances should be looked at critically to ensure that a person’s workload is appropriate. But, at the same time,we need to recognize that our individual ability to handle stressvaries, as does our reaction to it.

Find Your Zone

Some people thrive on action and perform at their best when under pressure, whereas others feel overwhelmed if they face too much stress.The key is to understand what your “optimal performance zone” is (illustrated below). How much stress and challenge do you need to reach peakperformance and what activities help you manage your stress load?

Data can provide valuable insights and help us find the answerto this question because we don’t always know how our body is coping. When you start understanding how much stress you personallyneed to support good performance and well-being, you can take a more active rolein making sure you do not go over(or under)board.

One way to get started is to reflect on the questions below and start identifying your triggers:

• Do you tend to overdo it? Or do you find yourself in a rut, craving a bigger challenge?
• What helps you feel good and stay in your optimal zone? (e.g. enough sleep, regular breaks, activities that help you relax, exercise, nutrition, social and emotional needs)
• What are the warning signs that show you’ve drifted from your optimal zone and need to ramp up or slow down?

Image 1: Finding your optimal zone between boreout and burnout can lead to better performance and well-being.

Learning Lessons

The exceptional circumstances of spring 2020 have brought to the surface some important issues we can learn from as we continue to balance our own lives. For example, some people realized they slept better because their days were not packed with activity. Going forward, as their schedules fill up again, hopefully they will remember that a packed schedule is not a badge of honor and can accept down time as a “productive activity”.

Others might have realized how much better they focus when they are alone and not constantly interrupted and can build this into their future work routines. Conversely, those who have struggled with boredom can hopefully start filling their days with much needed activity and interaction in the not-too-distant future.

Whatever the takeaways, when we learn more about ourselves and recognize our warning signs, we can avoid bore- and burnout and, ultimately, enjoy optimal performance and well-being.

Need help preventing boreout and burnout in your workplace? Firstbeat Life helps identify the areas to focus on.

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