Boreout – The New Office Disease

Boreout works like this: a boss refuses to delegate work, frustrated underlings ask for more to do but are trusted only with mind-numbing tasks. After a while they stop asking and enjoy the free time at their desk, stretching out the low-intensity tasks with a series of strategems.

But mimicking work day after day erodes self-esteem. Result: the boss hurtles towards burnout while at least some of his staff edge towards boreout. The symptoms are almost identical.

There are several different aspects and causes of Boreout which I will explore in later entries. For now, I’m curious as to how many people are experiencing this? Are you suffering from Boreout? The test in the article asks the following questions and suggest that if your answer is yes to 4 or more, you might be suffering from Boreout:

1. Do you complete private tasks at work?
2. Do you feel underchallenged or bored?
3. Do you sometimes pretend to be busy?
4. Are you tired and apathetic after work even though you experienced no stress in the office?
5. Are you unhappy with your work?
6. Do you find your work meaningless?
7. Could you complete your work quicker than you are doing?
8. Are you afraid of changing your job because you might take a salary cut?
9. Do you send private e-mails to colleagues during working hours?
10. Do you have little or no interest in your work?

At the moment, I score about an 8. I gave myself half points for some and remember that current technology means most office workers will say yes to 1 and 9. How do you score? Anonymous comments are always welcome, but having your age would be helpful!

Official website: www.boreout.com