You hear a lot about burn-outs, being overloaded and being too busy. But I think it is important to also highlight the other side: what if you have too few stimuli and challenges? I already talked about that in my article about a bore-out . This time I want to talk about understimulation at work. What is it and how do you prevent yourself from being so bored that you go under? I share 5 tips that I wish I had known a few years ago to prevent understimulation.
Understimulation – that is also possible!
Many people are afraid of becoming overloaded. Not surprising, because in this society a lot is expected of us. Phones are always on, mailboxes are continuously open and we also want to excel in everything. At work and outside of work. And are we not busy with that ourselves? Then we are confronted on social media with all the great, compelling things that we could have done with our time.
On the other hand, there is also such a thing as being structurally underloaded. Because what if you really want to show what you can do, are full of energy to do things and have enough to offer to be of great added value, but you can’t get rid of all that in daily activities?
The line between being under-stimulated and over-stimulated is often very thin. Especially if you are highly sensitive . For example, I can quickly become over-stimulated if I have a day full of appointments. On the other hand, I absolutely love typing texts for ten hours straight and racking my brains over substantive issues. Like many others, I need a challenge to be enthusiastic and energetic.
I remember that I had that in primary school. Sometimes I was allowed to do extra math problems in a separate group or write extra papers if I had already finished my weekly task. I was happy about that!
My story about under-stimulation
In one of my jobs I suffered seriously from understimulation. I noticed that I often finished my work halfway through the week, while I was expected to sit behind a PC the entire week. Then I came up with extra projects and tasks to keep myself busy the rest of the time. Sometimes I also indicated it and I got something extra, but then again I was finished with everything that had to be done a while later. I was also often dependent on the approval of others who were not always there, which meant that sometimes I could do nothing else for whole days than come up with extra tasks myself, write news articles and that kind of thing.
“Great, such a quiet period. Enjoy it!” is one of the comments I often heard at that time. But unfortunately it is something else when such a period lasts for months. Believe me: then it is really not enjoyable. I longed for challenge, more work and more responsibility, but kept running into a wall. After a while I felt burned out, I went to work with reluctance and I felt useless above all. All that was also not good for my self-confidence.
I know I googled myself silly at the time. What was going on? What should I do to fix this? Was it my fault? How else could I indicate that I really needed more work?
Many bells started ringing when I came across articles about bore-outs online. And related to that: ‘understimulation’. That was it. It surprised me how little is actually known about this phenomenon , while there are more people who suffer from this. I decided then that I wanted to tell more about it one day. And especially wanted to share my experiences in the hope of helping others on their way.
Preventing understimulation at work
Fortunately , I have n’t suffered from understimulation for a long time now. Since I’ve become my own boss, I can create my own challenges and decide for myself which assignments I will or will not accept. Do I have time to spare? Then I come up with my own projects and I don’t have to approach a boss with my heart pounding in my throat first. And do I notice that I need more new stimuli? Then I sign up for a course that day or read up on a new subject. I-de-al!
In recent years I have also started reading and learning a lot about what caused me to become under-stimulated. I wanted to be able to explain it, but above all I wanted to prevent something like that from happening again. If you also notice that you sometimes miss the challenge in your work or if you even feel under-stimulated, then you might find these 5 tips against under-stimulation useful.
Tip 1. Find a job that really feels good and fits
In my various salaried jobs and now as an entrepreneur, I notice again and again how important it is to work for people and companies that you support. If you think every time you perform a task, “Gosh, what does this actually matter?!”, you might want to think twice about whether this is the place for you.
Of course, the other extreme is to immediately pack your bags if you occasionally have to do something that you don’t see the point of. But if you don’t support the ideals of the organization at all or don’t have much to do with it, that might be a good reason to look for something else. In principle, I would always look for an organization that touches on one of your areas of interest, that fits you in terms of atmosphere and where you think “Wow, what a great mission!”. Then you will more quickly end up in a place where you feel heard and you can happily sink your teeth into the subject matter.
For example, I once cancelled a freelance assignment because that organization clearly conflicted with my own sustainability ideals. I also said no several times to assignments that I thought “I don’t have much to do with that”.
For example, look specifically for a sustainable job
Do you, like me, find sustainability important? Then there is Sustainable Jobs: a great job platform where you can specifically search for sustainable vacancies . On this job bank you will only find functions in the field of sustainability and jobs at companies that have a sustainable mission . Think for example of the sustainable care brand Naïf, a webshop in circular furniture, or consultancy companies that work specifically with sustainable entrepreneurs. All functions that make the heart of every green doer beat a little faster.
And nice for freelancers or students: you can also search specifically for internship vacancies, a sustainable career guide and freelance assignments . As a freelance copywriter, I will certainly regularly check out the latter.
Tip 2. Look beyond the 40-hour office job
When I was seeing a career coach at the time, she taught me to look beyond the standard 9-to-5 routine. I still had it in my head that I only counted if I dutifully sat on the bus to the office at 8 o’clock every day and came home before dinner. For me, that was the adult life. Thanks to her, I dared to look outside those boxes.
Who says you have to sit in the office from 9 to 5, five days a week? You can also choose to work 24, 32 or 36 hours as an employee and also invest time in your own company or fun side hustle . For a while I combined 4 days and later 3 days of working as an employee with my own assignments as a freelance copywriter, and I really liked that. That gave me exactly the variety I was looking for.
Tip 3. Don’t get challenge from work alone
I am aware that I was in a privileged position at the time. I had already bought a house, had a relatively low mortgage, had no children to care for and also lived alone. So I ran little risk by working less and later quitting my job. Is that more difficult in your case, for example because you have a family or because you really need all your income for your fixed costs? Then try to look beyond your work alone. If you cannot get the stimuli and challenge you are looking for from your work, see if something other than work offers you those stimuli.
Sign up for a course , ask your employer if you can do a training , start a blog, write a book or do something creative . You can also look for volunteer work that does give you that challenge. If you just get the stimuli from somewhere, it will also be less frustrating if your work does not give you that challenge.
Tip 4. Talk about it with your employer
Do you notice that you structurally finish your work “too quickly”? Or that you always go home with an unsatisfied feeling because you are not sufficiently challenged? Do not be ashamed of it and do not think that there is something wrong with you. Talk about it and dare to go beyond that shame. Explain that you structurally notice that the workload or the level of the work is too low for you, and look for solutions together. If necessary, think of something yourself that you would like to delve into or that you still want to learn. Being proactive is always good.
Are you really upset? Then be honest about what the situation is doing to you and don’t be too casual about it. Your employer may also think that you are just having a bit of a quiet time and may then drop a “That’s nice sometimes, right?!” But if it is really serious, then make that clear as possible. Then things will change sooner.
And if after such a conversation there is still no change to be noticed? Then it might be time to look around for a new challenge.
Tip 5. Do more of the things that give you energy
In the time that I was under-stimulated, I mainly had a nagging feeling of uselessness. My career coach then gave me the tip to look at what I did get energy and satisfaction from. For example, I started to focus more on photography, came up with new approaches for blogs, delved into personal development and started reading more books. That cheered me up enormously.
Take 15 minutes to write down everything that gave you energy this week. And see how you can build more of those moments and challenges into your week. It won’t solve the problem, but it will make it less frustrating right now.
