It’s a global phenomenon in the western world: an increasing number of employees feel disengaged at work. They clock in, clock out, check in, but feel checked out. The workload is there, ever amounting. There is always more to do but they don’t feel any motivation to do it. What’s happened?

It might have been different when we first got our jobs. We learned the ropes, we payed special attention to what we did , we felt a sense of achievement as we got the hang of our new duties. Then the novelty wore off.

We settled into a routine. The job became a repetitive chore,  we did not perform with a sense of purpose anymore. Our brain now could, and often did, wander while working.

How do we get to feel so bored? But more importantly…

What is the cure?

Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way: if eating fast food is your routine, what you are experiencing is probably vitamin deficiency.  Eat your greens! If you also don’t exercise,  you should. I wrote about it here.

But if you are doing all the above and are still feeling like a zombie at work, it may well be that you need a challenge.

You need a challenge

We are like heat seaking missiles. We need targets. Once target has been hit (whether self-imposed or imposed by others), we need something else , otherwise we fall apart.

Re-invent your work

I remember working in the corporate world and invariably, I would start to feel disengaged after I had settled in the job. Whenever that happened, I would look at how I performed my duties and endeavoured to come up with better, quicker or at least more personalised ways of doing them.This gave me a renewed sense of purpose.

Take a hobby

I also turned to my hobbies and other projects that mattered to me.

I started my first blog from that place in my life. My brain must have heaved a sigh of relief when I did because I wrote some of my favourite stuff then. An example here and here. Writing was a good outlet for creatively venting my frustrations.

Another hobby I turned to was Basketball. I wanted to train to slam dunk again, among other things.

Get a coach

But when you really want to level up, you need something to pull you out of your comfort zone. Someone to hold you accountable.  You need a coach. Or at least a friend that’s a step ahead of you.  When I was blogging, I was part of a writing club so that gave me the impetus to write and also sustained me for a while.  When I started to play B-ball again, I found that in the UK, I wasn’t pushing myself enough. The level was a bit weak (sorry guys) but when I came back home (Guadeloupe), I had to raise my game. This is what prompted me to vlog this.

More recently, I worked out with a personal trainer friend of mine. It was an eye-opener: I tought I was quite fit. Turns out I seriously need to do some cardio. My endurance is shocking!

I would have never realised without my friend pointing it out.

Lesson learned.

So what to do if you feel disengaged?

Check your diet. Exercise.

Come up with new ways of doing what you do, apply for this new role that you’ve heard about in the other department, start your business on the side, or take a hobby.

If you really want to level up and reinvent yourself, get a coach, a friend, read a book, watch videos from people who can help you level up.

With the Interweb, there are loads of coaches to choose from. You can even get a lot of advice for free.

But I’m curious. Do you have other tips to cure boredom? Please share in the comments!

Reflect, Redefine, Rise

R