So I was thinking about my day job.

I was thinking that a lot of people seem bored there a lot of the time.

Then I got to thinking about other places I've worked, and a lot of people seemed bored at those places a lot of the time.

Then I got to thinking about other businesses I've walked into either through my consulting, or just a place I visited as a customer, and a lot of people are bored at those places a lot of the time.

And so I got to thinking about where I work at my day job again and I got to thinking that there's no reason anyone should ever be bored here, and yet the fact remains, people are bored there a lot of the time.

Are you bored at your job a lot of the time?

If you are, it's a bigger problem than you think, it's not entirely your fault - in fact, it's mostly not your fault - and, it's a big problem that's fixable.

You see, in thinking about my day job and thinking, "there's no reason anyone should ever be bored here" I got to thinking about why they would be bored.

There's a big general reason, and there there are a few - not many - very specific reasons why someone would be bored at work. The general reason is that you're not engaged at work. Now before you get all crazy-defensive, hear me out.

The Big General Reason for Your Boredom

If you're bored most of the time, or if you describe yourself as "burned out" or if you dread going to work every Monday morning, or Sunday night, or Sunday afternoon, or Sunday morning, or late Friday night in anticipation of Monday morning, then I'm suggesting you might be "not engaged" in your work. I use "not engaged" as opposed to "disengaged" because disengaged implies you were once engaged, and it's very possible that you never have been engaged at work. Further, if you find yourself complaining a lot at the water cooler or the coffee machine or the break room, or wherever you go to escape the boredom then you're not engaged.

The Specific Reasons for Your Boredom

Okay, so I said earlier, that your boredom at work is not entirely your fault, and I'm right about that. It's at most 30% your fault, maybe a little more maybe a little less. It's about 70% your direct supervisor's fault. How did I arrive at these numbers? I cheated. I got them from Gallup. According to decades of research on the subject, at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement is attributable to an employees direct supervisor.

That part that's on you. The best way to illustrate this is with an example I got from an actual person. She told me she hated the place she worked. She said it started out okay but then it just got worse and worse. I asked where she worked before that and if she liked THAT place any better. "NO! That place was horrible." I asked if she'd worked anywhere before the horrible place and she told me that indeed she had and that place was also horrible. I asked her what she did and she told me. I asked if she had always done that kind of work. She confirmed that, yes, she had been doing the same job at different companies her entire career and never found a good place to do it. "What's wrong with all these places?" she plead.

I had to tell her, as gently as I could, that maybe it wasn't the companies, but maybe she had chosen the wrong job.

If you've chosen something for which you have no talent, you will hate that job. You may just dislike it in the beginning, but eventually, you'll hate it. That's because we need to feed our talents and a job that doesn't do that will never engage us. Ever. More on talents below.

That's not to say she wasn't competent or even very good at what she did for all those horrible places. I've known lots of people who are good at what they do - not as good as they could be but very good. But if a job is feeding your talents, you don't get bored or burned out. It just doesn't happen.

It also doesn't make you "less than" someone who won't be bored at your job. You're just talented at something else. Go find that "something else". You took this job for the wrong reasons anyway.

So, the 30% is on you and it's almost entirely your job selection. You can read more about this in my book, "A Passion for Monday"

Now, the 70%, that's on your boss. Your direct boss, not the company, not your boss's boss - YOUR direct supervisor.

The Big Problem with Being Bored at Work

If you're bored at work it's costing your employer and the economy big time. So if you think you're the only victim, you're wrong.

I'm fond of telling the managers I coach, "Engage your people and get an extra month of productivity from every one of them." But really, it's just reclaiming a month lost from every one of them and here's what I mean...

People who are engaged at work and get to use their talents to do what they do best every day are on average 7.8% more productive. If you do the math on this it's about one month of productive time more per year for every person who is engaged and using their talents. So when you're not using your talents, you're putting in at least a month less of productive time. Ouch.

You owe it to yourself, your employer, the economy and you owe it to someone else who might be able to use their talents at your job, to go do something else.

If you're bored at work answer these questions...

Do you know what's expected of you? In those bored moments, do you know what you could be working on rather than being bored? If you have time to be bored, your direct supervisor is failing you. They need to keep you challenged and almost every organization I've ever been associated with in any way, has plenty of work to keep you busy. If they don't, get out, because a layoff is inevitable.

Do you have the materials and equipment to do your job right? If you don't, you're probably bored because work that you could get done in a fraction of the time takes you all day and it's numbing your mind and killing your spirit. Again, this is on your direct supervisor.

Do you get to do what you do best EVERY day, and most of the time every day? This goes back to what I said about your part in this. Does your job make good use of your talents? Most people, when they hear the word "talent" they think of an ability to sing or dance or paint or some other artistic endeavor. Those require talent, but are not the talent themselves. Talents are things like communication, being analytical, your competitive nature, your ability to get things done, your ability to get things started, your strategic abilities, your ability to take something good and make it great, etc. Your piano, or painting or singing skills all expressions of some broader talent theme. So if you don't get to use your talents, most of the time, you're going to be bored and not engaged.

These are the big ones and if you're getting these met, you're probably never going to be bored at work. There are some others that are also very important, but if these three aren't being met, the others won't matter much. Also worth noting, if you're direct supervisor is providing these three to you, he or she is probably also, as part of doing what they do, providing the other 9.

The Other 9

• Have you received recognition or praise for doing good work in about the last 7 days?

• Do you feel your supervisor or someone at work cares about you as a person?

• Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

• Do you feel your opinion counts at work?

• Does the mission or purpose of your company make you feel YOUR job is important?

• Are your fellow employees or associates committed to quality?

• Do you have a best friend at work?

• In the last 6 months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

• In the last year have you had opportunities to work and grow?

Stop being bored at work and do what you need to do to stop hating Monday. Everyone should love Monday just like Friday, but for a different reason. If that's not the case then you and your direct supervisor are doing it wrong.

Make a change.