QUESTION: I’ve been at my job for two years, and I’m getting bored. The things I’m working on are repetitive, and I’m starting to get increasingly annoyed with day-to-day nuisances. I’m essentially having to restrain myself from biting my coworkers. About a year ago, my direct manager left, and was never replaced– instead, they removed his position and shuffled his responsibilities to me and a coworker. In addition, over the last year, the product I work on has grown a lot: we’ve had some success, which is good, but it comes with a lot more work and responsibility. I’m the only one working on that project, and things keep getting dumped on me, from big tasks to administrative details that someone else really should handle, but which end up on my plate as “I’m the only one who knows this project.”
My boss meanwhile seems to want us to keep growing, and wants more results, faster, with tighter deadlines and more elements. I’m starting to feel a bit burned out. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even really manage to take a sick day properly — there’s too much to do, and all the eggs are in my basket, and can’t be left unattended even for a minute. Most troubling, I’m bored with the work I’m doing: so more’s expected of me, but I’m feeling pressured and lethargic about producing the same stuff over and over again.
As I’ve felt the burnout approaching, I’ve tried to halt it: I’ve spoken to my boss about getting some help and she’s made sympathetic noises, but nothing has come of it, other than to actually add more work to my plate. I’ve tried to find ways to get excited about my tasks again, trying new things and new ideas, but they all tend to fizzle in this general funk of gloom. So, I think the time is coming for me to move on. . . only I can’t. I’m planning to go to grad school next year, to help get me to the next level of my career which will excite me again. In this economy, I can’t imagine finding another job that pays as well as my current position, and I wouldn’t want to take a job for the nine months between now and school, only to leave so quickly.
Any advice about not hating my job as much as getting through till May? I’d really like to get there without stabbing a coworker with a pen or crying in my shower on a daily basis.
ANSWER: You have already done what you can to try to improve the situation and, anyway, your plans for this job are very temporary. Because of this, it seems the best course of action is to find a way to cope with the job, collect your paycheck, and avoid burnout and preserve your mental well-being throughout that process. Here are some things you can do that might help that goal:
- Write down a list of things you do like about your job (for example, you mentioned the pay is good). Keep this list handy and take a look at it from time to time to keep perspective.
- Take breaks during the day when you feel yourself getting stressed. Use that time to find a way to shift your mood back to a more positive state.
- If there is too much work to do that you can’t get it all done in a working day, allow the least important to drop off, or ask your boss for help with prioritizing tasks.
- To deal with boredom, focus your drive and ambition on your personal life, side projects, or getting ready for graduate school.
- Find something fun to do each day in your personal life so you have something to look forward to and be excited about.
- Leave work at work. Don’t check email, don’t complain about your job, and don’t think about your current projects.
- Get to know the people in your office. Having someone there to chat with can help you get through the day to day until it is time to leave.
- Start a countdown to remind yourself that this situation isn’t permanent.
This was my answer to the August reader question on the Intuit QuickBase Blog. To see three other expert perspectives on the topic, please view the original post at 360 Answers: When You’re Burned Out at Work.