In this post I endeavor to share my experiences, elucidating the origins of my boreout syndrome and detailing the methods I have adopted to cope with it.

First and foremost, it is imperative to clarify that this article does not purport to offer medical advice for managing Boreout Syndrome or depression. Rather, it serves as a personal reflection on my own journey in grappling with this psychological condition. It is essential to recognize that the strategies I employ may not be universally applicable, particularly within diverse professional contexts or for individuals experiencing this syndrome under distinct circumstances. Nevertheless, I endeavor to share my experiences, elucidating the origins of my affliction and detailing the methods I have adopted to cope with it.

What is Boreout Syndrom?

From Wikipedia:

Boredom boreout syndrome is a psychological disorder that causes physical illness, mainly caused by mental underload at the workplace due to lack of either adequate quantitative or qualitative workload. One reason for boreout could be that the initial job description does not match the actual work.

The syndrome was first given this name in 2007 in Diagnose Boreout, a book by Peter Werder and Philippe Rothlin, two Swiss business consultants.

Symptoms of the bore-out syndrome are described by the Frankfurt psychotherapist Wolfgang Merkle as similar to the burnout syndrome. These include depression, listlessness and insomnia, but also tinnitus, susceptibility to infection, stomach upset, headache and dizziness.

A Little Bit About Me

From the age of 12, my aspiration to pursue a career as a software engineer has been steadfast. My initial exposure to programming during school ignited a passion that propelled me into afterschool competitive programming clubs. These forums served as invaluable platforms for delving into intricate software engineering principles, including dynamic programming and a spectrum of algorithms such as knapsack problems and shortest paths. Moreover, I gained profound insights into the time and space complexities inherent in various algorithms. These formative experiences were not only instrumental in honing my skills but also primed me for participation in prestigious national and international computer Olympiads, notably the International Olympiad in Informatics.

I successfully attained several Cisco certifications prior to completing my secondary education and subsequently, I pursued higher education in computer science at a distinguished university.

Regrettably, upon completing my studies, I found myself at a loss regarding the criteria to evaluate potential employers as a new engineer. Unfamiliar with resources like Glassdoor, Reddit, or Blind, I lacked insight into the nuances of company culture, work environment, and career advancement opportunities. Consequently, I embarked on my professional journey by joining prominent, well-established companies under the assumption that their esteemed reputation equated to engaging and fulfilling opportunities for a driven software engineer such as myself.

In summary, my career trajectory spans over a decade and encompasses diverse sectors ranging from research institutes to pure software development firms, as well as consulting and service-oriented organizations (also known as body-shops). This breadth of experience has afforded me insights into various facets of the industry, equipping me with a deep understanding of different work environments and organizational dynamics.

How Boreout Syndrom Sneaked Up on Me

It has come to my attention that both established companies and startups often lack intellectually stimulating tasks for aspiring and motivated engineers. The predominant workload typically revolves around maintaining existing codebases and addressing minor bugs, which fail to offer significant cognitive challenges. Moreover, engineers frequently find themselves tasked with developing mundane applications, such as basic CRUD systems for internal departments. Over time, this repetitive nature of work diminishes the learning curve and stifles professional growth.

It seems like engineers who are buddies with management or have close personal connections, like sharing each others wives, get the best projects, while introverted engineers like me end up with boring tasks. While some engineers get the spotlight with exciting projects, others like me keep things running behind the scenes.

Continuously doing uninteresting tasks for a long time can make you feel bored and worthless, especially when you see others doing exciting work. You might start doubting your abilities and feel like you’re not good enough. The pressure intensifies during daily scrum meetings as you struggle to find something to say, fearing that your micromanaging manager will perceive you as unproductive. In the end, even if you want to switch projects, other engineers might not think highly of you because you’ve been doing maintenance work and are seen as a less skilled engineer.

In my experience at various companies, I’ve encountered this unfair treatment repeatedly. Management often justifies it with phrases like “We’re not running a charity” or “Someone has to do the work.” They may make empty promises about improving the situation while continuing to assign mundane tasks. Meanwhile, new hires with better social skills are given exciting projects, reinforcing the sense of injustice.

After some time, I made the decision to prioritize my own interests over the company’s objectives. My focus shifted to maximizing my earnings while minimizing my effort for the employer. Simultaneously, I dedicated myself to enhancing my engineering skills, and even exploring new ones to their fullest potential.

Here’s how I did it.

Best Strategies on Dealing with Boreout-Syndome at Work

Take a Nice Nap During Work Hours

Finding a quiet space in the office, preferably your own lockable office, is ideal for taking a nap. This tactic is particularly effective if your employer requires clocking in. Arriving early when the office is empty, clocking in, and then taking a nap allows you to rest while still technically on the clock. Plus, it’s a win-win since you’re being paid while also benefiting from some rest, which is good for your health. Just make sure to document your work hours accurately on your timesheet to show that you were present and working during that time.

Read Books

Exactly! Bringing along some books to the office and finding a quiet spot to read is a great way to make productive use of your time while on the clock. It allows you to learn new skills and expand your knowledge base on company’s time.

Work on Side-Projects

Fire up your favorite IDE and start working on personal projects during office hours can be advantageous. From a distance or to an inexperienced manager, it may appear as though you’re diligently engaged in work. It’s crucial to ensure that you commit and push your code to your private GitHub repository before leaving the office. This way, you can seamlessly continue your progress from home.

Peprare for Interviews

If you still hold optimistic prospects for the industry and contemplate venturing into new opportunities with a different company, then equipping yourself for potential interviews is imperative. What better way to accomplish this than utilizing company time? It is advantageous to abstain from engaging in any company tasks during this period to maintain mental freshness, unencumbered by mundane responsibilities.

Exercise

Make use of company time to incorporate a brief gym session, lasting an hour or so. Alternatively, you can perform exercises such as pushups and crunches in a quiet office space. Prioritizing physical well-being is paramount, particularly if you have the flexibility of working from home.

Call In Sick

It is important to take sick leave when you are unwell, whether the ailment is physical or mental. Sick days are intended to address both types of health concerns. Consider this: would you prefer to endure a mild cold that subsides within a day or two, or face depression, which can be life-threatening and includes risks such as suicidal thoughts? My framework to taking sick leave is to utilize it whenever my boss, who is largely responsible for my misfortune at work, also takes a sick day. On average, this amounts to approximately 2-3 days per month.

Final Thoughts

For me, a productive day at work involves reading books, taking intermittent naps to digest what I’ve learned, and researching stocks. This way, I can leave the office without feeling guilty about my productivity. As a final tip, it’s important to limit socializing with colleagues to maintain the appearance of being busy. This helps safeguard your valuable free time from being consumed by additional tasks assigned by your boss.

Before hastily attributing such actions to theft, let us critically examine the situation. Who is truly the party engaging in appropriation? Is it the diligent engineer, diligently seeking avenues for self-improvement and acquiring knowledge beneficial to the company? Or is it the managerial echelon, which fails to recognize the inherent value of a skilled engineer, thereby squandering valuable corporate “resources” (if you fancy the bullshit corporate lingo) and diminishing the morale and potential of an individual?

Before arguing that this approach may be unfair to my colleagues, consider this: where are they when it comes to taking on the mundane tasks to ease my workload? They prefer to focus on the interesting projects and show little concern for my well-being. Additionally, many of my colleagues come from wealthy backgrounds, with parents who have purchased them condos or who will leave them substantial inheritances (in the millions of euros). This means that, despite performing the same amount of work, I will never achieve their quality of life or net worth in my lifetime. It is essentially as if they are receiving a hundred times my salary for the same effort. Is that fair? Similarly, parental leave policies can be exploited. In Germany, parents can take up to three years of leave per child, leading to some individuals being absent from work for nearly a decade by spacing out their three children’s leave consecutively. This strategy results in an additional 660 vacation days, placing an unfair burden on childless colleagues who must cover their workload. To balance this, I strive to match these 660 extra days by occasionally calling in sick for a few weeks each year or disengaging from work for extended periods (months), focusing instead on reading or personal projects during company hours.

The message is simple: prioritize your personal interests during company time and resources, while minimizing the work you do for the company.