14 Interesting Ways To Combat Boredom At Work
There may be times in your job when work is uninspiring, unchallenging, and incredibly dull. Even if you are the hardest worker in your company, these are moments that you cannot simply avoid.
We all have these moments, and when we do, we don’t feel like doing anything and want to buzz off. But instead of falling asleep and getting yourself into trouble, it’s better to make use of this time to be more productive.
Being bored at work is not a bad thing if it leads to beneficial actions. In fact, research shows that being bored at work may actually boost employee productivity, creativity, and motivation.
In this article, you are going to learn what may cause the boring moments at work and how to triumph over them.
Here are 14 ways to leverage boredom at work to your advantage
1. Change your daily commute
If the daily journey to your office is a long, tiring, and frustrating one, going to work is going to be an arduous task. Just think about it, if you’re already frustrated and tired by the time you reach your office, how motivated will you be to perform your tasks?
Make changes to your commute and start and end your day differently. Look for new alternative routes where congestion is not an issue. If possible, use the subway, or maybe, cycle to work.
You can also take a route with exciting landmarks that you can see to freshen your mind and break out of the monotony.
2. Revamp your workspace
Make changes to the space you work in. You can ask your boss to allocate you a new cubicle or desk to work in. Or you could probably exchange desks with a co-worker of yours.
Changing the place you work in will offer you a new and fresh perspective on the tasks at hand. If that is not possible, then make changes to how the things at your desk are arranged.
Little things like placing a picture of a loved one or buying a small potted plant will help ease your mind while feeling bored and unmotivated.
3. Set new goals and challenges
If you do not set standards and challenge yourself, work is bound to become very dull. It would be best if you worked toward something, whether it is career development or personal learning.
Think of new areas in your life which require improvement and set goals for improving them. Working towards a goal or objective will make work exciting and make the boredom go away.
Moreover, doing something interesting every day will freshen your perspective on work and motivate you.
4. Take a much-needed vacation
Do you feel bored at work every day of the week, and nothing seems to be fixing it? Well then, maybe it’s time to take a vacation with your family and friends.
A vacation out in a pleasant location will freshen your life up and ease all workplace stress. And once you come back to work, you will be prepared to complete your tasks efficiently.
5. Collaborate with others
Boredom at work may arise if you have to work alone at your desk, without the support of a team. Having to work on complex tasks all alone can be very dull and frustrating.
In such cases, ask your supervisor to allocate you into a team where the workload is divided among everyone. By doing this, a collaborative environment is encouraged, which promotes contribution and creativity.
You can also search for opportunities to work with other departments and teams. This will help you acquire new skills from others and provide your expertise when the need arises.
6. Modify your physical environment
Environmental aesthetics really make a difference in the way our brains function. The physical aspects of our surrounding environment can affect our mood.
So if you have been experiencing bouts of boredom frequently, try changing the aesthetics of your work environment. You can include bright colors like yellow, orange, green, or red in your workspace to invoke feelings of excitement and freshness.
7. Take steps to improve your Emotional Intelligence
You may be quick to blame your job as the reason for your boredom at work, but this may be far from the truth.
Maybe you are more prone to boredom, resulting from low social awareness and social competence, or more simply, emotional intelligence.
Take steps to improve your emotional intelligence. For example, practice self-awareness or maintain positivity. It will help you become more motivated and confident not to lose enthusiasm in your job.
8. Get adequate sleep
Though you may not have thought about it, the cause of constant boredom at work could be as simple as poor sleep. Poor sleep causes workplace stress, health problems, and many more. It affects our decision-making, concentration levels, etc.
Make it a point to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Getting enough sleep will keep you energized, and it will improve your physical and mental health.
9. Converse and engage with your co-workers
If you work in an office where you are not friends with anybody, it can be pretty tough to avoid boredom.
Spend time to get to know your colleagues and create meaningful relationships with them. This will help develop a sense of liveliness in the workplace.
Moreover, when you feel bored, you can strike up a conversation with them to share your experiences, crack jokes, etc.
10. Go out for lunch with your colleagues
Going out with your co-workers for lunch is an excellent way to have fun when you are bored. Make a plan and go out to the new and happening place in town.
Having lunch with your co-workers will help you unwind and relieve the stress of work. Moreover, it will help you to know them better and create deeper relationships.
11. Gamify work
Gamification at work is a new concept that has been gaining recognition recently. The idea of gamification is to add gaming elements to everyday work life. And doing this engages employees and enhances teamwork and productivity.
You can gamify your work by conducting contests or challenges among your co-workers and keeping track of the job done. If you win, you will receive prizes for your performance. This can be a great way to ward off boredom, and it is also enjoyable.
12. Learn new skills and abilities
Don’t just waste your time if you are bored at work. Learn a new skill to help you tackle the boredom at work with ease. By learning new methods and skills about your job, you will have better control over your tasks.
Watch some educational videos, or read an article to grow your intellect. You can also sign up for many websites which provide easy online learning methods to improve your skills.
Also, the more skilled you are, the easier it will become for you to be promoted.
13. Ask your boss for new responsibilities and challenges
If you have no challenging tasks at hand to work on, your excitement levels will undoubtedly drop. Furthermore, the monotony of your job can take a toll on your mental health as well.
A simple way to solve this is to ask your boss or supervisor for more challenging tasks or responsibilities. With new tasks and challenges, you will get the revamp that you want to fend off boredom at work.
Just make sure that you don’t ask for more than you can handle. If everything goes well, you will create a good impression on your boss, and promotion may be on the cards!
14. Take a short break to rewind
In most corporate jobs, changes are very far and few, with every day being almost the same. Doing the same repetitive work, again and again, is guaranteed to get you bored sooner or later.
If you are bored at work, the simplest thing to do is to take a short break and relax your mind. Take a coffee break, check your social media, or go for a walk to ease your mind and refocus. Taking a short breather will help you rejuvenate your brain.
Moreover, constantly working under pressure even after being bored can increase stress, decrease your concentration, and focus on work.
Try these steps to handle boredom in the best way possible and make those boring moments exciting and fun.
Besides working as a content marketer at Vantage Circle, Shah Alif Ahmed is also an internationally certified nutrition specialist, competitive bodybuilder and a musician. For any queries reach out to editor@vantagecircle.com
