We’ve all heard of burn-out at work. Well, now there’s bore-out. It’s an expression that might make you smile if it didn’t conceal a reality that’s too often suppressed. In a work environment, burn-out is linked to having too much to do, but bore-out is about the tedium of being under-occupied at work. Let’s look at the pathology of a problem that affects a good number of employees.

Not everybody knows how to just do … nothing. Especially when we’re talking about a work activity that an employee spends most of his or her time on. This isn’t by any means a new phenomenon, but it has increased considerably. Why? Well, Christian Bourion, author of “Le Bore-Out Syndrome”, provides a few answers. According to him, it can happen when civil servants are sidelined because, for some reason, it’s not possible to make them redundant; or in the private sector, when tasks are sub-divided so that employees become specialists in one tiny area or, as in the public sector, when people are not made redundant although their job has lost its purpose.

The consequences are just as devastating as those observed in victims of burn-out. Perhaps they’re even more harmful, because it’s not easy to admit that you’re suffering from having nothing to do at work. Feelings of guilt do, however, affect a good number of under-employed employees. Along with those feelings go a host of serious problems including loss of confidence and loss of self-esteem. After all, aren’t employees supposed to find work fulfilling? Various harmful and addictive behaviours may add themselves to the psychological problems. Snacking, drinking alcohol, taking anti-depressants, etc.

How do you avoid getting drawn into all this? It’s difficult to suggest a personalised solution, because the situation varies so much from one case to another. However as with everything, it’s always good to be open, to confide in somebody, and to talk. In the workplace, perhaps you can come up with strategies for making your work more dynamic. Take the initiative. If you really can’t see a way out of the situation, you need to think about a radical solution before it’s too late, maybe finding something else to do on the side, or a new career path. This may be the price of keeping your health.

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