With new figures showing many workers are spending a good chunk of their working day bored, we look at ways to keep your job interesting.
Whether you’re in the office, working from home or a freelancer, there’s a good risk you’re going to get bored by your work at some point. A study by recruitment firm Robert Half found that employees are bored at work for 14% of the time – over 5 hours a week.
While this figure drops to 3.8 hours for those working in small businesses, it’s still too much time.
We look at ways freelancers, remote workers and employees of small businesses can keep boredom at bay…
Set goals
The survey found that a third of staff who report being bored felt that way because they weren’t being challenged. For people who have been in a role for a long time, this is quite common as they become good enough in what they do that it doesn’t challenge them.
Make your working life more challenging by setting personal goals. This could be time limits, sales targets or whatever you feel is most suitable to your role. Not only will this give you added challenges but it will also help boost the business.
Take on new projects
Three in 10 bored employees felt a lack of diversity on offer within their role was a big reason for being bored.
Combat this by seeking out new projects. Look at other departments or see what your colleagues are doing and ask if you can help out on any projects that look interesting.
If you can’t find anything in your business that interests you, look into doing training for skills that will make your job more enjoyable.
Speak with your boss
If you’re not able to create new opportunities or change your role dramatically to reduce your boredom, it’s time to talk with your boss and let them know how you’re feeling.
See if they can come up with ways to make your job more exciting such as considering you for a role swap or look at any new projects you can work on.
Alternatively, it could be your bosses way of working that is making you bored. The study found that 1 in 3 said there are too many meetings that are poorly executed. If your boss is not able to keep your team engaged in your work, it’s something that needs changing.
Change jobs
The final option is the nuclear one – quit and look for a more engaging and exciting job.
Over a third of managers surveyed said their work simply wasn’t interesting enough.
When looking for a new job, don’t just switch like for like. Consider what it was that bored you at your current job and things that might excite you in a new one. Is it the office culture, the variety of daily work or the chance to take risk?
Posted by The Secret Businessman