3 Mistakes People Make When Bored at Work - The Muse

3 Mistakes People Make When Bored at Work - The Muse3 Mistakes People Make When Bored at WorkUnless youre one of the lucky few, at some point youll end up in a sttte that you find to be incredibly boring. And I get it. If you can do your job in your sleep, it can be easy to lose the motivation to do it well. But heres the thing- even if watching a yule log sounds more appealing than your 9-to-5, there are a few mistakes that your boredom might lead to that are inexcusable. And while you can blame the fact youre bedrngnis stimulated, at the end of the day, its all on you.1. Youre Unresponsive When Your Colleagues Need YouWhen your job puts you to sleep, its tempting to say, Hey, theres a video of cats playing with water bottles Ive been meaning to watch. Ill just take the rest of the afternoon to catch up on it. And sure, there are times when youve been working so hard that you should take a few minutes to get up to date on whatever viral content all your friends are watching. The onl y problem is that when youre bored, its easy to fall into the trap of prioritizing these really quick side projects. And even though you dont love what you do, the people you work with still have things they need to get done. So when they need your help on a project, its up to you to continue following through- especially when you know that they cant move forward without you. Its bedrngnis your colleagues fault that youre unhappy, so really, dont take it out on them by not caring about deadlines.2. Youre Complaining at the OfficeOK, there are plenty of TV shows that make it seem like complaining about your job or company while sitting at your desk is par for the course. While it might look like a good way to blow off some steam before you get back to your not-so-exciting tasks, youre doing more harm than good. For starters, you run the risk of having someone youre not particularly close to overhear what you have to say- which can be incredibly damaging if that person also happens to be in charge (or a tattletale). But more importantly, you also forget that you probably work with a few folks who are pretty satisfied with their work. Not only are you irritating those people, but if theyre in a position to help you to move on to something more exciting (either at your current company or down the road at another organization), youre not putting yourself in a good position to approach them later on. After all, whod want to recommend the guy who complained about everything, every single day. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE BORED AT YOUR JOBSo quit messing around on the internet and find a company you truly loveCheck out awesome companies hiring now 3. Youre Not Looking for Something NewWhen youre bored with what you do, its up to you to do something to change that. Whether that means taking on additional responsibilities that might be more interesting or starting a search for something new, nobodys going to volunteer to do that work for you. If its just your job itself that s tedious and youre happy with your company, consider looking into an internal transfer. And if youre not satisfied with either your job or company, dont rule out just launching a job search. Sure, it can be stressful and uncertain at times, but unless youre willing to do something you find boring for the next few years, this is one of the best ways you can change the way you feel about going to work every day. If youre dragging yourself to the office Monday through Friday to do something you know will make you yawn, dont worry- youre not alone. However, that doesnt let you off the hook for these basic mistakes youre prone to making when you dont find what you do particularly exciting. And while its always easier to point the finger, if youre interested in improving your situation, take a hard look in the mirror and think deeply about how you can start making a change- because you can. Photo of bored person courtesy of JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images.