There are plenty of ways you can cure the boredom you feel at work, but not all of them are wise. For instance, watching something on Netflix or playing an addictive smart phone game would fall under the category of “not wise”.
Research shows there’s a better, wiser solution to fixing boredom: finding a way to make your work more interesting.
Job crafting
If the problem at hand is that your work doesn’t feel meaningful, you may be able to re-engage by locating a sense of purpose outside your immediate job description. Yale University professor of management, Amy Wrzesniewski, calls this approach “job crafting”.
For example, she found in one study that hospital janitors were deeply satisfied with their work because they understood their primary purpose as engaging with the patients whose rooms they cleaned, and they acted accordingly.
Reframe your jobs value
Mentally reframing the task at hand as a game can also pay dividends. Find ways to appreciate and value whatever it is that we’re being paid to do.
Create a game
Another strategy is to make a given task less boring by adding a layer of challenge—say, setting a timer to speed through a pile of paperwork, or deciding to write an otherwise run-of-the-mill memo in the form of a sonnet.
Use boredom to your advantage
Boredom doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can push us to challenge the status quo and mix things up to create change. Check out this article on how to use boredom to your advantage.
Whatever it may be that you do to cure your boredom, just don’t choose entertainment like games on your phone. Research tells us it will only increase the chances that we’ll be bored more often.
