A QUARTER of office workers suffer chronic boredom and the ways they cope with it can be bad for their physical and mental health, according to new research.
Dr Sandi Mann, a psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, presented her findings at the recent annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology in Chester. She asked 102 office workers to complete questionnaires asking about their experience of boredom at work and how they cope with it.
The results show that eating chocolate and drinking coffee are very common. Workers also reported that they were more likely to drink alcohol at the end of a boring day.
Being bored can affect how well workers are able to do their jobs. Nearly four out of five felt that being bored caused them to lose concentration and over half felt it led them to make mistakes.
As Mann says, the research is relevant to “the bulk of workers across the western world”. She says the most significant cause of boredom is an undemanding workload.
“Managers should look at ways of reducing sources of workplace boredom and encouraging healthier ways of coping.” Solutions suggested include job rotation and multi-skilling. Encouraging healthier ways of coping might be providing healthy snacks and drinks in canteens.
Some people are more prone to boredom than others. “Managers might consider using boredom proneness as a tool when they are selecting staff or making decisions about staff development,” Mann says.
In the current economic climate, undemanding workloads are “more of a problem than ever before. People are often overskilled for their jobs. To me, boredom is the new stress. And office workers are effectively propping up the confectionery industry.”
Mann emphasises the importance of office canteens selling healthy food. “It sounds obvious, but it’s actually very hard to get healthy snacks. Given that some workplaces simply can’t avoid boring work, employers have a duty to recognise that this is going to drive workers to eating chocolate and drinking coffee.
“Part of the reason we go for these things is their availability as well as the stimulus from caffeine and the endorphin factor from chocolate.”
Workplaces should, says Mann, offer “interesting, healthier snacks at a reasonable price. The best foods are fruit and vegetables. ‘Health’ bars aren’t necessarily that healthy but even providing plain biscuits or fun-sized chocolate bars can sometimes meet a need instead of full-sized bars.”
Chris, a tax office worker in Cork, says that boredom is a feature of his job. “There’s a canteen at work and I’d often take a coffee break in the afternoon. I wouldn’t eat chocolate. I’d be more inclined to go on the internet when I’m bored. The canteen serves quite healthy food such as soups, sandwiches, wraps and salads. Chips have only been introduced recently. Some of my colleagues would eat chocolate or smoke outside the building.
“There were about four vending machines when I started in the office, but now there’s only one. People wanted to get rid of them because of the temptation to eat sweets. The chocolate still comes out in the afternoon. Nearly all the staff are sedentary. You can see how people put on weight in offices.
The days of going drinking after work are gone [Chris has young children]. Job rotation would definitely help solve boredom."
Catherine is a receptionist in an accountancy firm. "Work can be boring when we're going through quiet times, particularly before Christmas. I cope with it by having a cup of tea and a sausage roll and a chat with the girls in the office kitchen. We pop out to the shop to buy food. People bring in chocolates and biscuits. There's always a stack of sweet things in the kitchen."
Going to the pub after work is something Catherine only does occasionally. She doesn't think boredom affects her concentration. "But sometimes, I wish I had taken a career path in marketing as that's what I studied in college. It didn't work out for me so I took this job. With the times we're in now, I can't really afford to leave."
Jane is a legal secretary in a solicitors' firm. "People like engineers, architects and solicitors were very busy during the boom, but now there's a change in pace and it's very hard to cope with. I find after lunch a bit soul-destroying. I might have a coffee and sometimes we send out for sweets. But having alcohol at the end of the day is not my pattern. Bitter experience has taught me not to do that."
Being bored can affect Jane's concentration. "I'm scrabbling at the end of the day to get the work done because of the lethargy that stopped me from doing it earlier on. Planning something to do in the evenings is one of my ways of dealing with boredom at work."
Cork-based nutritional therapist Lucy Hyland says office workers eat unhealthily because of limited choices. "But [consumption of] highly processed sugary foods leads to weight gain. From a work point of view, these foods are bad for concentration. They send a rush of sugar to the brain, but within 20 minutes the effect is gone. People go back for more chocolate and coffee to keep them going..
“A bar of chocolate can contain anything up to eight spoons of sugar which is an awful lot of sugar to release into the system at one time.
“People need to eat snacks that have a slower release of carbohydrates. Something as simple as switching from a white scone to a brown scone is a good idea.”
Names have been changed at the request of the interviewees
HEALTHY OFFICE SNACKS
Fresh fruit and yoghurt
Whole wheat crackers with protein added such as a slice of cheese or some hummus
Crudités such as chopped-up carrots, celery and peppers dipped in hummus
Keep a fruit bowl on the desk with hard fruits such as apples and plums that won’t go off
Dried fruit with nuts and seeds
Herbal teas
