I was scrolling through the Public Service communications group recently when a post stopped me in my tracks. Someone shared that they were starting a medical leave because of severe boredom at work—a condition known as bore out. Their message was honest, painfully relatable. After more than ten years of creative service design experience, their role had been reduced to making decks and reports “look pretty” for three years straight.
Reading that post stirred something in me. It brought back my own experience with bore out, sometimes called a “lack of purpose.” Unlike burnout, which comes from overworking yourself into a frenzy, bore out sneaks in quietly. It’s the exhaustion of not being challenged, of not being invited to contribute meaningfully, of not using the skills that once made you feel alive. It creeps in almost invisibly but trust me—its impact is very real.
We talk about burnout a lot in creative fields, but bore out? Not so much. So, what exactly is it?
What Exactly Is Bore Out?
Imagine your brain as a beautifully decorated room with no guests. You have ideas, skills, curiosity, and energy—but no opportunities to use them. For designers, artists, writers, and creatives of all kinds, boredom is not just boring—it’s draining. Creativity needs oxygen, and repetitive or under-stimulating work can leave you feeling disconnected from the craft you technically love.
The tricky part? When client work piles up, you feel guilty admitting you’re bored.
You “should” be grateful. You “should” be thrilled someone is paying you to design things. Yet sometimes projects are slow-moving or long-term, leaving you without that immediate creative spark. You’re busy but not fulfilled. Productive but not alive. And online, it even looks like you’re doing nothing because there’s nothing finished to show.
And then begins the loop. You’re stressed when you have no projects, stressed when you have plenty. Creativity, it seems, has a sense of humor like that.
Create Something Just for Fun
At some point, I realized waiting for the perfect project to ignite my creative spark wasn’t working. So I started creating just for fun. No client, no expectations, no deadlines, no pressure to be “good.” The goal wasn’t recognition—it was joy.
Side Projects and Creative Outlets
When I was working in-house, one of the things that helped was finding outlets outside my day job. Volunteer work, personal projects, or just tinkering with ideas reminded me that my skills had value and that creativity doesn’t switch off just because the environment doesn’t nurture it. Some organizations make space for creative thinkers to thrive, but sometimes you have to create that space yourself first.
Bore out is real, but it’s not a dead end. You don’t always need a new job or a massive career reset to feel creatively alive again.
Sometimes the antidote is small, close to home—a tiny idea, a silly spark, or a curiosity that refuses to leave your mind.
Follow it. Make something just for the joy of making. Even a “do not eat” packet might inspire a breakthrough you never expected.
Because here’s the truth: creativity is resilient. It just needs the right environment—or the courage to build one yourself.
