Workplace boredom could well be the 'new' stress according to research first published by Dr. Sandi Mann of UCLan in the UK over 5 months ago.
CNN has reported here on the paper released by Dr. Mann back in January, here.
Dr. Mann's paper said that of those surveyed, the results showed that a quarter of the workers suffer chronic boredom,
with eating chocolate and drinking coffee being among the things they
do to reduce it. Workers also reported that they were more likely to
drink alcohol at the end of a boring day.
She followed up with the fact that almost 80 per cent felt that being bored causes them to lose
concentration and over 50 per cent felt it led them to make mistakes.
Almost half the respondents felt that workplace boredom might lead them
to leave their current job.
The CNN report also highlights similar work carried out by Dr. Mark de Rond in Afghanistan studying military surgeons. Dr. de Rond believes that the answer could lie in encouraging greater compassion for others (something the Dalai Lama is constantly preaching). To replicate this effect, leaders need to explain to teams "why what
they do is important, who it matters to and why." "It's that, that keeps a
team focused," de Rond says. "Otherwise it's just work."
It goes without saying that by breaking the day up into sessions of group meditation and exercise this would also help to build up a resistance to the usual boredom or reaching for an unhealthy snack.
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