“I have a lot to offer, but no one demands it – I’m tormented by boredom.” This is how Anna (36) describes her feeling of dissatisfaction at work. She is in the middle of boreout: She used to be in charge of marketing and communications in a clinic, but after a restructuring she feels underchallenged. Her new team leader ignores her suggestions. She struggles for recognition and is increasingly exhausted. Despite her loyalty to her nice colleagues, she realizes that things can’t go on like this.
“My friend said I should get help because I don’t know what to do,” Anna says. I want to feel alive again – at work and in my private life.” She briefly thought about psychotherapy , but then decided on coaching.
Content
Text: Boreout as an impetus for change
1. Boreout Analysis
2. Practical Solutions to Boreout
3. Boreout: Psychology
4. Boreout: Philosophy
5. Boreout Self-Test
1. Boreout Analysis
Anna’s boreout results from persistent underchallenge and lack of appreciation. The main causes:
- Loss of professional fulfillment: Anna used to have more responsibility, now she feels reduced to a passive role.
- Insufficient use of their skills: Her expertise remains unused, which makes her feel superfluous.
- Communication problems with the supervisor: Their suggestions are ignored, which increases frustration, anger and inner resignation.
Fundamental motivation problem: Anna not only needs a challenging task, but also the freedom to live out her creative ideas. The lack of this opportunity takes away the joy of her work, which leads to exhaustion and the feeling of no longer being needed.
2. Practical solutions against boreout
- Improve
communicationAnna improves cooperation with her supervisor by actively listening, asking specific questions and clarifying misunderstandings at an early stage. - Build
in more recoveryShe works one day less per week. This break helps her to recharge her batteries. - Take your own needs more
seriouslyAnna resumes old hobbies such as kickboxing and climbing. These activities bring her joy and balance. - Fundamental motivation problem
Anna not only needs a challenging task, but also the freedom to live out her creative ideas. If she lacks this freedom, she loses the joy of her work. So she looks for a new job and after five months finds a small company that offers her exactly that.
Result
After 6 months of coaching, Anna feels much more mentally stable. She realizes that she can actively shape her life and uses the boreout as an impetus for change. Her new job allows her to work in an environment where she is not only challenged, but also creatively encouraged. Now she feels freer, more self-determined and can concentrate on new life goals .
3. Boreout: Psychology
Boreout syndrome occurs when you feel totally underchallenged at work – almost the opposite of burnout. It can even turn into burnout at some point if you don’t recognize it early and try to fight the causes .
In Diagnose Boreout (2007), Philippe Rothlin and Peter R. Werder explain that job dissatisfaction often arises from boredom. They rely on Gallup studies, and although the topic is attracting quite a lot of interest, a scientific basis is still missing.
Boredom at work: The cause of boreout
It’s about the fact that boredom and a lack of tasks lead to dissatisfaction in your job, even if you could actually do much more. Even though the topic is getting a lot of attention, it has not yet been completely scientifically proven.
Symptoms of Boreout: Similarities to Burnout
People who are affected by boreout often feel depressed, have trouble sleeping, and are simply exhausted – just like burnout. They withdraw emotionally and avoid commitment, but remain in the job out of insecurity and a sense of duty.
Those affected feel trapped in this underchallenge and wish to really do something meaningful – they don’t want to be paid just for their mere presence.
Why boreout is less recognized than burnout
Burnout is detected about three times more often than boreout. This may also be due to the fact that people with boreout often do not dare to seek help. As psychologist Wolfgang Merkle says, it’s easier to say, “I’m overwhelmed,” than to admit, “I just have nothing to do.”
Fundamental Motivation: Why It’s Hard to Find
A central aspect of boreout is the loss of fundamental motivation – the inner need to do meaningful work. However, recognizing this motivation is not easy. It requires intense self-reflection to find out what really drives and fulfills you. But it is precisely this reflection that many find difficult, as it requires time, honest discussion and often professional support.
A coach or psychologist who deals with professional meaning-finding can help to discover one’s own motivation and to find an activity that is both challenging and fulfilling. Without this support, many sufferers remain trapped in their lack of challenge, which can lead to psychological exhaustion in the long term.
4. Boreout: Philosophy
The Mechanical and the Lost Freedom
The philosopher Henri Bergson describes freedom as something flowing, alive – in contrast to the mechanical, which makes us freeze. Those who are in boreout experience exactly that: work continues, almost automatically, but nothing moves inside. There is no development, no surprise, no real challenge. Just repetition.
From emptiness to passion
Anna experiences exactly this standstill: On the outside everything works, but inside she feels frozen. Bergson would say that she has lost her liveliness, trapped in the mechanical. To escape the boreout, she had to feel real impulses again – through challenges, through creative freedom, through what really fulfills her. She has finally found that in her new company.
5. Boreout self-test
Hint: This test is for guidance only and will help you find out if you have any signs of boreout. Answer the questions honestly with yes or no.
1. Emotional and physical symptoms
1. Do you often feel tired or exhausted even though you are not overworked?
2. Do you suffer from sleep problems or physical ailments such as headaches or stomach problems?
2. Job satisfaction and motivation
3. Do you feel like your skills aren’t being used?
4. Do you often get bored at work and don’t know how to fill the time?
3. Working environment and prospects
5. Do you stay in your job even though you are dissatisfied for fear of not finding anything better?
6. Do you feel like your time at work is wasted?
4. Personal values and attitudes
7. Is it important to you that your work is meaningful, but you often experience the opposite?
8. Do you feel tied to your job out of loyalty or insecurity?
Evaluation
Count in which area you answered yes most often:
- Emotional and physical symptoms → Your boreout is already putting a strain on your health. Pay attention to warning signs and allow yourself recovery periods.
- Job satisfaction and motivation → Your work doesn’t challenge you enough. Consider whether new tasks or further training can help.
- Working environment and prospects → Do you feel stuck in your job and procrastinating? Check alternatives or talk to your manager.
- Personal values and attitudes → Your job doesn’t match your needs. Find ways to see meaning and motivation in your work again.
© Timo ten Barge 27.02.25
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