My recent research has led me to two statistics that I found difficult to reconcile.
Stress and boredom.
Multiple reports and studies have been citing the rise in knowledge worker stress. Current levels marked by the StressPulse report indicates that 59% of workers have high levels of stress (extreme fatigue / feeling out of control) and 35% have constant but manageable stress.
The top reasons for stress at work include workload (39%), people issues (31%), and juggling work and personal life (19%).
Another statistic that I came across was that 46% of employees are bored at work. The research showed that this feeling of dissatisfaction typically comes within two years of working in the same role.
“71% of those who have been in their role longer than two years agree that their job feels too routine because they’ve been doing the same thing for such a long time.”
This got me wondering about workers being BOTH stressed and bored. Which apparently is something that is also being researched and documented.
Busy Boredom
When understanding the interaction between overwork driving stress and the work itself driving boredom, this summary captured what is happening in our brains:
“There is a considerable difference between exertion and challenge. You may be exhausted and overwhelmed because your job requires tremendous mental, physical, or emotional exertion, and sometimes all three, but that doesn’t mean your brain is challenged.”
Another insight came from Dashlane. They suggested that boredom may increase if there are a lot of administrative tasks in the day and a lack of work that feels meaningful.
My Perspective
After pulling all this information together, so many things are now obvious to me – both surrounding my own career journey as well as watching others around me.
In corporate cultures where “Busy” is a badge of honor, employees feed the badge by attending lots of meetings and engaging in high volumes of email communication. Those two administrative layers can make work overwhelming and stressful, yet also leave you feeling like you have accomplished nothing.
The moments of my career where I felt the strongest pull of busy boredom were when I was in roles for longer than 2 years. The ability to move around to new roles in my company was more challenging as my career progressed to higher levels (less options). During these times, I sought learning outside the office to challenge my brain.
Your Turn
Have you felt busy boredom?
What did you do to help relieve the situation?
How could your organization put practices in place to help the team with both stress and boredom?