The Surprising Trick to Outsmarting Boredom at Work

Boredom is an exhausting yet inevitable part of human life. At times, even our everyday tasks like cleaning the house, filing paperwork, and travelling for work feel draining. Even though we know that these tasks are essential for our livelihood and do not require as much focus or concentration since they are part of our routine, why do we find ourselves dreading completing them? Why do we keep procrastinating? 

The answers to these particular questions lie in the functioning of our brain. It demands tasks that are challenging and stimulate our senses. These tasks should evoke curiosity and provide rewards after accomplishment. The functions that the human brain finds boring possess no such qualities. We must start happily tolerating these tasks, if not loving them. 

How can we do so? Since time immemorial, humans have found ways to make unvaried tasks slightly more enjoyable. While farmers might sing songs while harvesting to avoid boredom back then, I now listen to true-crime podcasts while sweeping the floor. These small acts of creativity stimulate our brains and give us engagement even in the most dull and repetitive tasks. However, with the right strategies and a proper plan, we can transform tedious work into an engaging one. 

Read More: Boredom: A gateway to creativity and self-discovery

Understanding Boredom

As discussed previously, boredom occurs when your brain lacks stimulation and engagement. It arises when our current task is unchallenging and lacks novelty and purpose. It might stem from various factors. The core factors for boredom are

• Repetition: Repeating the same actions makes the tasks wearisome and hence one feels bored while doing them.
• Absence of Challenges: When a task is monotonous, it becomes dull. It reduces engagement and the actions become tedious. 
• Lack of Purpose: Human beings always want a satisfying end or reward when they perform a task. When neither of these is present, the brain does not find a purpose to work towards the completion of the task which then results in boredom. Everything seems pointless.

In this fast-paced world where our attention span has been reduced to a mere 30 seconds of vertical social media content, tasks that do not possess exciting stimuli feel mundane and unbearable. Moreover, distractions or underlying attention problems can also make any task seem tedious. Boredom is a signal from your brain for a change. This change could be in the form of the environment, the task itself, or the mindset. While the first two require changing things around us and are fairly hard to achieve, changing our mindset is something that we can work towards. 

Read More: Psychology Behind Growth Mindset

Reframing the Approach

By learning how to perceive and act on these tasks to reduce boredom, we might just be able to trick our minds to find the joy it has been missing. 

1. Find your Motivation

If you know that you need to do a task, you might as well find a motivating factor that keeps you going despite the task not being in your area of interest. Identify a reason for learning it and incorporating it into your life. Learning something novel and trying to understand the task at hand can stimulate your brain, which is one of the root causes of boredom. This driving force keeps you engaged even when the piece of work lacks intrinsic excitement. There is a very effective technique called the ‘Why x 5’ technique or ‘The Five Whys’ technique. It helps you understand the deeper purpose that lies behind the mundane activities.

1. Why do I need to accomplish this?
2. Why is this reason essential for me?
3. Why is it necessary for the big picture?
4. Why will completing it make a difference?
5. Why will I get a sense of accomplishment afterwards?

2. Monitor Progress

Reduced attention span is also one of the vital reasons for increasing boredom among people. Understand how your brain works and where it needs a break. Try working for 30 minutes without any distractions, focusing only on the task at hand. If you feel your attention wearing off, reduce the time by 5 to 15 minutes and try again. Now, stick to this time for deep work. Keep adding a few minutes to this time without losing attention until you reach the point of being able to constantly concentrate for 30 minutes. Continue to stretch this time for as long as possible without getting exhausted. Take significant breaks in between. This time management technique allows you to complete the task without growing tired of it.

3. Break It Down

While monotonous tasks may be overwhelming, micro-tasks have the power to get you out of it. Breaking down a big assignment into smaller and more manageable pieces makes a considerable difference than you might think. Research has found that chunking often helps in retaining both memory and motivation. Taking smaller steps might give you a sense of achievement.

For example, you can decide that instead of cleaning the whole house, I will start by cleaning just this one room. After you accomplish this chunk, move on to the next chunk of the task. Moreover, setting micro-goals can also prove to be effective. For instance, say that I will complete 2 out of 15 chapters today. After you have completed those 2 chapters, reward yourself and recognize your achievement. Celebrating small wins is also a crucial part of finding joy in mundane tasks. These small accomplishments maintain your motivation throughout the task.

4. Gamify your Experiences

Gamify, as the name suggests, involves turning your tasks into a game to give it a fun aspect. One might think that this approach is mainly used on children, but it works surprisingly well on adults too. You might be able to trick your brain into enjoying the tasks when you introduce fun, challenges, and rewards.

• Try setting a timer: For example, I might find myself getting exhausted because I have been writing this article for more than 2 hours. I said to myself, “Let’s complete this section in the next 10 minutes and then I will take a break.” 
• Compete with Yourself: I wrote the last section of this article in 15 minutes. I need to complete this one in 10. Track your performance and try to beat your previous record.
• Reward Yourself: Now that I am almost done with this section in the article, I will reward myself with a 20-minute break. 

Read More: 10 Tips to Overcome Boredom

Boredom: A Silver Lining

From the start, we have been discussing how boredom is a bad thing and how we can trick our brains into overcoming or avoiding it. What if it is not as bad as we are making it out to be? What if there is a positive, however small, but positive side to boredom? Boredom can be a powerful incentive for creativity. When the brain is unoccupied with an engagement or stimulus, it wanders off in search of something that will generate novel ideas. Boredom also gives us space and time for reflection. We can focus on what we have done, how we can improve it, and what more can be done to promote holistic growth. 

Read More: The Power of Personal Growth: Simple Strategies for Success

In conclusion, boredom is an unavoidable part of our life, and therefore we want to trick our brain into enjoying certain tasks, at least tolerating them. Boredom mainly occurs due to the absence of challenges, repetition of tasks, and lack of a bigger purpose. We can work on our mindset and reframe our approach to those tasks by finding our motivations, gamifying our experiences, breaking the task down into smaller goals, and constantly monitoring our progress. Furthermore, boredom might also give rise to creativity and give us some time for reflection.