Boreout?

Boreout at Work

Many workers are so ill at ease in the office that they spend a large part of the day simulating work. That generates more negative stress than excessive working. The result is serious but hidden depression in the office.

Boreout has been part of office life for the best part of a century. I remember while working for the Financial Times in the 1970s that colleagues developed an “Italian Jacket” system. A spare jacket, kept in the office, would be spread over the back of your chair, a half-drunk cup of coffee would be placed next to the phone – and you could disappear for a couple of hours. The Editor would assume that you were briefly elsewhere in the building.

All this sounds… familiar…