6 Practical Ways to Escape Boredom at Work While Being Productive

Never in the history of boredom has anyone been more bored than I am right now. Have you ever said this to yourself while you are at work? No? Well, Jack O’Neill has.

Boredom at work is unavoidable. At some stage in your working life, once or twice - even more, you might feel bored either with your work, the environment, or daily routine. Scientists said that we feel bored sometimes because we want something but unable to achieve it, resulting in disengagement of activity. In a serious condition, chronic boredom can lead us to several issues like binge eating, drug or alcohol abuse, becoming less productive, and even some dangerous accidents.

See also: The Advantages & Disadvantages of Being Curious at Workplace

As being bored can result in a serious problem, how do we deal with boredom?

If you are too bored to find a solution, we have compiled some practical boredom antidote for you. So, here we go.

Make your work a game – An interesting tips to try, you can make a game out of anything, including your work. For example, you are trying to get your coding project done but your boredom shoos away all your motivation to do anything. When this happens, you can turn it into a game. See how many codes you can solve in 5 minutes or ask your friends to compete with you on how many codes you both can solve in 10 minutes. The winner gets a treat.

Find distraction – Distraction could help a lot when boredom hits you. Boredom means you cannot do an activity you wish you want to do so by letting yourself get distracted, it could trigger your mind into thinking new ideas. Thusly, find something to switch your focus and help build your thinking such as reading a book, playing mindful games like solitaire, doing your hobby, rearranging your workspace, writing a song, singing a song – just distract yourself.

Exercise – Various studies cited that exercising benefits us a lot. Not only keeping us healthy, but it can also boost happiness and improve mood. Exercise will also give you more energy to do more tasks. Thusly, hit up the nearest gym before going to work or just simply do light exercise at your desk.

Talk it out – You might want to approach your workmate when you are bored as you both might find a lovely idea to fill in the boredom or just share something fun together. This could improve your level of happiness, resulting in increased motivation. Your productivity will also increase as you feel better after sharing your thoughts with your work buddy. Note: do talk to someone who is not currently busy. Do value your co-workers time.

Take e-course – Another productive boredom-solution activity, e-learning. By taking an online course, you can increase your knowledge of the things you are interested in. You can also get a certificate from it if you finish the study you enrolled in. There are a bunch of free online courses you can try such as edX, Alison, Coursera, etc.

Offer helpful hand – If you feel bored because of your own work, you can try something new by offering help with your co-worker’s project. Having something new to do will increase your level of satisfaction that later will help your mind thinking that you can do better at tasks you are working now.

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