Overwork, an unbalanced life, and stress are the side-effects of experiencing burnout. However, when everything seems meaningless and unimportant, the boreout monster is always lurking around. According to Professor Lotta Harju at Emlyon Business School, "Boreout is chronic boredom." It sometimes leads to slacking off, but mainly to dissatisfaction and eventually even poor mental health. In light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the transfer to online settings has aggravated the imbalance between work and life. To discover the cause and effect of boreouts at an individual and societal level, The Granite Tower (GT) asked 121 Korea University (KU) students to share their experiences.

Different from Burnouts

Both boreouts and burnouts are detrimental to individuals’ physical and mental health. Boreouts result in a lack of interest in general situations, whereas burnouts lead to excessive and prolonged stress.