11 Signs You're Struggling With 'Boreout' At Work

It’s widely known that stress and exhaustion at work can overwhelm employees and lead to burnout, but fewer people are familiar with another phenomenon that impacts worker mental health and job satisfaction: “boreout.”Boreout occurs when people feel unchallenged and under-stimulated at work, often due to a persistent lack of meaningful tasks and intellectual engagement. “The term ‘boreout’ was first formally introduced by Peter Werder and Philippe Rothlin in their 2007 book ‘Boreout!: Overcoming Workplace Demotivation,’” psychotherapist Joe Nucci told HuffPost. “Boreout feels like slowly disappearing from your own work life while still showing up every day.”He noted that boreout stems from underutilised potential, chronic boredom and loss of meaning. Your work might feel repetitive, dull and misaligned with your values ― leading to frustration, stress, guilt, exhaustion, anxiety and depression. “When your job pays the bills but no longer offers the stimulation your brain craves, you’re left with a quiet kind of suffering: showing up without being lit up,” said Nucci, who is the author of “Psychobabble: Viral Mental Health Myths & the Truths to Set You Free.”Employees experiencing boreout feel a sense of stagnation that worsens over time. “It is, of course, to be expected that we all have moments at our places of employment that are not particularly engaging, and points in the day when we feel less motivated and interested in a task at hand,” said Courtney DeAngelis, a psychologist at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Boreout best describes when we feel this sentiment at your job more times than not.”Signs You’re Experiencing BoreoutSo how can employees recognise signs of boreout at work? Below, experts break down 11 common indicators. You feel a lack of interest in your job tasks.“Some of the most common signs of boreout include feeling unmotivated, mentally checked out or simply going through the motions without real interest in the work,” said Keith Spencer, a career expert with Resume Now.People dealing with boreout tend to feel restless and detached from their jobs. “A sign of boreout is lack of interest in your tasks ― especially if you once enjoyed doing this type of work or the work has gotten repetitive,” said career coach Emily Worden. “You know how gifted students get bored easily in class and therefore need extra challenges to keep them occupied? I see boreout as the same way.”She added that that this phenomenon occurs when you’re not challenged or can’t find meaning in your work.“Boreout often shows up as clock watching or finding little ways to avoid tasks because the work feels dull or meaningless,” said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at MyPerfectResume. “You might notice yourself going through the motions by showing up and doing just enough to get by, but deep down you feel mentally checked out.”Boreout occurs when you're not feeling naturally engaged with your work tasks and don't see room for growth in the job. You pretend to be busy at work.“Often, people pretend to be busy just to avoid drawing attention to their disengagement,” Spencer said.Indeed, feeling so uninterested in work tasks tends to lead employees with boreout to procrastinate and stop caring about job outcomes. “They create the illusion of being busy,” Worden said. “Think George Costanza at the office.”But in reality, they aren’t actually working. “They may try to feign being busy when co-workers or those in higher positions are nearby or question what they are working on,” said Jennifer Kelman, a licensed clinical social worker and mental health expert at JustAnswer.You don’t see any room for growth.“They don’t see room for growth,” Worden said. “There is no chance of being promoted or moving into a new role.”This lack of opportunity and reward is further discouraging and breeds apathy and disengagement. “They know they can do more,” Worden said. “They’re looking to pivot into something that matters, where they are contributing and growing. If you’re in a job that’s ‘good enough’ but you want something else, you’re likely suffering from boreout.”You fill your day with non-work things. “These individuals may fill their workdays with other things unrelated to their work, such as surfing the internet or scrolling through social media,” Kelman said.If you feel little motivation to complete your work tasks, you’ll likely gravitate toward anything else. One sign of boreout is “overusing breaks, such as making coffee or scrolling on your phone,” echoed Karishma Patel Buford, chief people officer at Spring Health.You make careless mistakes.When you feel uninvested in your work and don’t see any opportunity for growth, you’re more likely to become a worse employee. “You might be making careless mistakes when you are not engaged in your work and you’re paying less attention to detail,” DeAngelis said. “You might join meetings late because you lose track of time while watching an unrelated video, or doomscrolling on your phone.”You’re generally lethargic.“I feel like boreout is almost like the opposite of burnout, except a lot of the symptoms present very similarly,” said executive career coach Elizabeth Pearson. “People can feel lethargic. Maybe you’re not sleeping great, maybe you’re not taking care of yourself.”She emphasised that boreout can cause you to feel “off” physically, as well as mentally. “Workers may experience fatigue that stems from boredom rather than effort, along with low mood or frustration throughout the workday,” Spencer said. You question your worth at work.“Feeling undervalued can also cause boreout, leading employees to question their worth and contribution at work,” Escalera said.In absence of opportunities for growth or interest in the tasks, you might wonder if anything you’re doing actually matters to your employer. A sort of nihilism can take hold. You do the bare minimum.“It can be hard to keep our focus when we feel bored and disinterested,” DeAngelis said. “You might approach your work in a very minimalistic way, such that you are doing the bare minimum of what is required from you.”She added that taking this bare minimum approach tends to mean receiving less positive feedback from colleagues and superiors. Boreout can make you feel trapped at your job and withdraw from your colleagues. You feel trapped in your job. “When people feel stuck in roles that no longer serve them, but they don’t see a clear way out, that sense of being trapped can quickly lead to boreout,” Spencer said.He pointed to a Resume Now survey that found 60% of workers polled had stayed in jobs they wanted to leave, often due to financial fears or uncertainty about the future. “It is a silent kind of strain that can be just as harmful as burnout if not addressed,” Spencer added. You withdraw from others at work.“One sign of boreout is avoiding workplace interaction where possible,” Patel Buford noted. Disconnecting from others can make boreout seem even worse. “Many keep these feelings to themselves because they feel embarrassed to admit they are struggling, especially when the workload looks light on paper,” Spencer said.Don’t underestimate the power of human interaction ― or lack thereof ― on your mood.“Boreout can lead to a lack of motivation, withdrawing from team conversations, and even feeling irritable or tired,” Escalera said. “When your job doesn’t challenge you or feel purposeful, these subtle behaviours act as a coping mechanism to deal with boredom and disconnection. These are also warning signs that should trigger any employee to ask themselves, ‘What do I need to get back to feeling engaged with the work I do?’”You feel a general sense of depression or ennui.“Other signs include general depression or ennui about your situation,” Worden said. “You might not be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with the job, but you’re just over it.”Many of the aforementioned signs of boreout are also depression symptoms ― including fatigue and withdrawing from others. “I feel like sometimes boreout can present like depression,” Pearson said. “You can’t really put your finger on exactly what it is, because maybe you don’t feel ‘sad,’ but you’re just kind of detached and almost creep into apathy.”Boreout may also contribute to other mental health issues. “When I have clients come to me experiencing boreout, they will often have symptoms of anxiety experienced as intrusive thoughts, obsessions, worries, screen addiction and other process addictions,” said licensed marriage and family therapist Sonnet Daymont. “Sometimes they’ll have an increase in PTSD symptoms if there is a history of trauma that the mind has the space to put energy into.”How To Deal With Boreout At Work“If you’re struggling with boreout at work, the first step is to give yourself permission to acknowledge it,” Spencer said. “Feeling bored or under-challenged does not mean you’re unmotivated or a bad employee. In many cases, it’s a sign that your role no longer offers the stimulation, growth or purpose you need.”Once you’ve acknowledged the problem, take some time to brainstorm solutions. “If one is creative, then they can come up with new ideas, new systems within their place of employment and possibly bring those ideas to those that are in positions of authority,” Kelman said. “Having this type of efficacy could lead one to feeling more excitement with the work and more challenged.”She emphasised that challenging yourself or creating something new can stave off the feelings of stagnation that lead to boreout. Talk to your manager about your desire for more meaningful tasks that promote growth. Think about the way you approach your day-to-day work tasks and your personal values and needs. “If you work remotely, can you make any efforts or changes to modify your environment and get to the office occasionally?” DeAngelis asked. “Working in isolation can reduce the chances that you get to experience novelty, and can make your days feel more mundane. Can you make time to connect with colleagues in a meaningful way, beyond ‘surface level’ small talk?”Nucci recommended tasks that provide additional stimulation as a way to combat boreout. “Turn work into a competition with yourself or with others,” he said. “Track your own speed or quality, give yourself a ‘score,’ or compete. Boring tasks become more stimulating when your brain sees a challenge. If you’re competing with others, you can even make it interesting by requiring the loser to buy the winner coffee on your next break.”In addition to gamifying work, he also suggested body doubling on Zoom or FaceTime and auditory stimulation with a movie or podcast in the background as you work. “Look for variety by volunteering for different projects or collaborating with new teams,” Spencer recommended. “Rebuilding connection can also help, whether that means having a coffee chat with a colleague or working together on something meaningful. Reflect on what excites you and consider whether your current role can offer more of that.”

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