Bored with your job? How to rediscover your passion for your work
Every creative leader goes through high-energy phases, but what happens when the spark that once fueled your ambition starts to fizzle out? What if the work that used to feel creative and full of purpose starts to feel repetitive (or even dull)?
This is very normal (don't panic)
When I’m coaching leaders in creative roles, I find this sort of mid-career boredom to be extremely common. But it’s only ever talked about in whispers and they tend to feel guilty about it. The narrative goes, ‘I’ve been able to forge out this dream career that everyone else looks on with envy. But I’m really bored!’
The thing is, even with creative roles, there is, eventually, a certain amount of repetition. This is likely because you’re in the same industry doing the same type of work you always have been, and also because you’ll have been typecast as being great at a particular type of work, and so that work finds you.
Do I want this to feel exciting again?
Before asking how to reignite your passion for your role, it’s worth pausing to ask if you want to. Sometimes boredom is a sign that it’s time to move on, but if there’s still something in you that wants to rediscover the joy in your work – that’s great information to work with.
How to figure it out…
One thought exercise you can do is asking yourself, ‘what would need to change for the work to become exciting again?’. Write a list of all the things you can think of and then score them out of 10 in terms of how much of a positive change you think they’d make (1 = a minor amount of positive change; 10 = a huge amount), and out of 10 in terms of how easy it would be to do them (1= really hard; 10 = really easy). Cross out any you’ve scored a 1 or a 2 for and, for each of the others, add up the impact and easiness scores. Identify those 3-5 things that get the top scores, and then (if you feel drawn to) action them.
If this whole idea makes you want to roll your eyes and tell me, ‘that’s not going to work’ then perhaps you are ready to move on – as it sounds as though nothing is going to make a difference to how you feel.
What if you’re ready to move on?
Moving on can be small (same role, another company), medium (different role in this company), big (a different role in another company) or massive (a totally different life path). Don’t rule any of these out instantly. Carry out another thought exercise and see what each might look like for you. What are the pros and cons? Which ones excite you?
There are loads more exercises you can do if you are bored at work to figure out what to do next. If you want some help or career coaching, please do reach out!
3 resources to help with boredom at work:
What should you do if you’re bored with your job? Great advice for people at all levels of the hierarchy.
Decoding your workplace boredom: what is your boredom telling you? It’ll give you useful clues if you let it.
What to do when your creative work bores you: a wonderful first-person perspective on how to deal with creative work boredom
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