Tom O'Neil: Bored at work

In some fields, more than 80 per cent of employees are bored and disengaged. Picture / Getty Images

"I am sooo bored... "

We all have those days at work. Due to boredom, time creeps so slowly and we are mentally pushing the clock to signal the end of the day.

Hopefully this is not a common occurrence in your role, however if a recent survey from crowdsourced pay data specialist Emolument is to be believed, there are a lot of very bored people out there.

Industry Types

Asking more than 1300 professionals if they were bored at work, they found that Legal, Project Management and Support related roles were in the top three, rating between 81 per cent and 71 per cent for pure boredom.

Accounting, Consulting, Banking, Engineering, Sales and Marketing were between 60 per cent and 68 per cent, with HR, Education and IT in the 50s. Only for Research and Development was the boredom rating less than 50 per cent.

Job Levels

Interestingly boredom levels did not decline as people progressed up the career ladder. The difference in boredom between an entry-level team member, and a "C"-level executive was 1 per cent. (66 per cent and 65 per cent respectively ). If your boss' boss is not excited about their role and your organisation, they can hardly expect you to be thrilled every day.

What helps keep boredom at bay?

I find that a number of factors can help people to keep interested in their job and career path, even when some times can be very tedious.

Enjoyment of the industry: This makes a huge difference to an individual's boredom level career-wise. If you are in an industry where you have a genuine passion, even the bad days are good. Conversely, if you "fell" into an industry as you progressed through your career, chances are you are higher on the boredom scale.

Making a difference: Knowing that the organisation you work for makes a genuine difference in the world (even when you are stuffing envelopes for the afternoon) can give you a sense of being part of a bigger plan, knowing that you are doing your bit to facilitate a better day for someone somewhere.

Team members: Working as part of a fun, vibrant and engaged team, ensures that even the mundane tasks can have a sense of positivity about them. During one of my OE jobs, cold calling banking clients, many years ago, the team I worked with got me through hours of mind-numbing cold calls, and I actually looked forward to going into the office.

Stop the rot

We need more than their pay as the main reason for getting up in the morning. Take some time out to think about who you are, your personality and what gets you excited in your job. Hopefully, this time out will be just what you need to get back on track.

Contact Tom to be your personal career coach or life coach. Visit www.CareerCoach.nz to find out more, or email Tom to receive our free 'Resignation Letter Template' via tom@cv.co.nz