Why it’s crucial to be “slightly over-challenged”

Eighty percent of American workers feel stressed, half to the point of exhaustion and misery, according to the 2020 Attitudes in the American Workplace Study from The American Institute of Stress. Many reported struggling with insomnia due to job stress. Twenty-five percent said they often feel like screaming! 

Meanwhile, though, the Gallup Institute reports that roughly two thirds of working people also feel bored and disengaged at work. Clearly, a lot of people are stressed out…and bored. That is one miserable way to go through life. It’s pointless to say: “Reduce job stress at all costs.” We don’t need to pump gentle new age music into our executive suites and make sure everybody tucks in for a nap after lunch. We need a more sophisticated understanding of both stress and boredom.