I want to talk about something I’ve been hearing over and over again from brilliant, experienced professionals: boredom at work. Not the low-level kind we all get from time to time—but chronic, energy-draining, soul-dimming boredom.

This episode is grounded in new research from the Midlife Work-Life Satisfaction Report, which drew insights from over 1,000 midlife professionals. And one thing was glaring: 97% said they want to do more meaningful work. That’s not a typo.

In this episode, I walk you through:

• What chronic boredom really looks like at midlife
• The 3 distinct types of boredom I uncovered in my research
• How each type chips away at your joy, energy, and engagement
• A more nuanced way to reconnect with work that matters more

You’ll also hear a bit about my own experience with boredom coma—and how I found my way out.

If any of this feels painfully familiar, you’re not broken. But you might be overdue for a redesign.

👉 Ready to do something about it? Work with me

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Midlife Work-Life Satisfaction Report

This is the Joy At Work podcast, and I'm Lucia Knight.

Here is what I'm seeing and I really want you to see it too.

Chronic boredom at work is at epidemic levels.

This year, I conducted the biggest piece of research since I wrote my book, and

from that research came a report called the Midlife Work Life Satisfaction Report.

And it involved 1000 participants, each of whom completed a survey.

And were also invited to a more in-depth interview.

You can access the full report in the episode description.

Here's one of the most shocking statistics from that report.

97% of the 1000 professionals in their late thirties, forties,

fifties, and sixties said they wanted to do more meaningful work.

Let me say that again.

97% wanted to do more meaningful work.

Wow.

In the in-depth interviews, I dug into that and the concept of being

bored at work came up again and again.

But they weren't talking about everyday boredom, you know, that sort of low level

annoyance of being trapped somewhere without anything interesting to do.

Mm-hmm.

I was seeing too many midlife professionals suffering from

chronic debilitating boredom at work and just accepting it.

I'd hear things like, work's not supposed to be joyful.

Lucia, is it?

And that was like a red rag to a bull for someone who hosts

a podcast called Joy At Work.

I saw them make brave attempts to self-soothe, to quiet, a growing urgency

to do something different, but over and over again, I saw brilliant, smart humans

ignore this boredom for months, years.

Sometimes even decades until it began to seriously impact their

work life, happiness, their physical health and their mental wellbeing.

Yet it was complicated.

Not everyone was experiencing this same kind of boredom.

So I kept digging, and what I discovered when I kept digging were three distinct,

versions, types of chronic boredom, and these exist on a completely

different level in a completely different planet to everyday boredom.

Chronic boredom seemed to be a slow black fog that descends on your

work week, leaving you sluggish, stale, and utterly exhausted.

And over time it seemed to start to ooze into weekends.

You know that Sunday night pissed offness way beyond Sunday Night Blues.

That's boredom communicating.

I heard people say there's nothing that can be done about it.

Lucia works just work.

It's boring, it's safe, but it pays the bills.

And I know a little about this myself because I've lived it.

I don't remember exactly when it started, but over the years, I

slipped into a kind of boredom coma.

I was working hard, but I'd stopped caring and I used to care a lot.

I was just exhausted going through the motions with barely any energy left

for the special people in my life.

I lived that way for maybe two years.

Then one morning I woke up and thought, I can't do this anymore, so I quit.

Said goodbye to your 20 year career, spent my savings and went back to uni.

It felt reckless, risky, and it was, I had two kids and a mortgage, but by that

point I felt like I had no other choice.

What I now know is this, when you understand your particular type of

boredom, there are ways to bring joy back to your work so you don't have to burn

everything to the ground and start over.

So here's what I want you to know.

I've identified three types of boredom that impact midlife professionals.

If you experience one over time, it chips away at your work satisfaction.

If you experience two, it's like a sledgehammer to your joy at work.

And if you are living with three for a long time, it's like a wrecking

ball crushing your happiness at work.

Here they are.

Number one, boredom from lack of novelty.

You've been in the same spot for too long and you've grown stale.

Sometimes that means you just need a new job.

Or new people.

Or new projects.

Or new environments.

Or new locations, yeah, this is the easiest and quickest type of

boredom to fix if you catch it early.

But the longer it goes on, the more attached you become to your comfort

zone and the familiarity of it all.

Two boredom from dissatisfaction.

This type isn't about what work you do, it's about how you do your work.

The day-to-day activities drain you.

Even when you do a brilliant job, there's no sense of reward or energy.

In my work, we shift that by discovering your superpowers.

The three or four things that you do that feel great inside your body that

you can do easily and lightly that give you a deep sense of inner satisfaction.

And number three, boredom from meaninglessness.

This shows up when the problems you are working on don't align.

With what you find meaningful.

I see this often in clients who want to do work that matters more,

that feels more fulfilling or that makes more of a difference.

But a word of warning, do not assume that this means you need to work for a charity

or an NGO or to give it all up and.

Become a volunteer.

it's much more nuanced.

It depends on your values, the problems that excite you and how you

want to live your life now in the near future and in the far future.

Here's the good news.

It is possible to eliminate or radically reduce chronic boredom to reclaim

your personal joy at work, to design a working life that fits you and feels

meaningful, satisfying, and yes, even fun.

Because work should add to the spice of life, not suck the joy from it.

And the workplace is evolving and it needs experienced minds like

yours, but fully engaged, solving important problems in ways that

light you up with energy satisfaction and meaning potentially forever.

And that sounds like joy at work to me.