There are days that feel long, but only for nebulous reasons. Everything is a task, and even the completion of one thing is only the beginning of something else that must be endured rather than enjoyed.

My malaise has internal features and particular behaviors. I am aware, for example, that time is being squandered and yet it paradoxically hurtles along; there is too much of it, and not enough of it. I have neither the patience to think nor the energy to do. I am consumed by utilitarian but empty busyness. I call up big companies over small discrepancies on bills. I agree to take online surveys or look up airfares or exchange rates for no immediate reason; play games of TextTwist or electronic Solitaire, noting my speed and scores. I eat, and the first bite has some flavor and the rest of the thing is somehow consumed and I can't even remember having chewed, and soon enough have only a vague memory of having eaten at all.

At night, I channel- and Internet surf, which leads to another notable feature. All things merit my attention, and nothing holds it. The end of the day is characterized by a kind of gossamer of regret: nothing too intense, only a resolution to do better tomorrow.

This self-indulgence comes and goes. Lately, I have become more attuned to my tendencies and see how work can sling me between boredom and anxiety, between not wanting to do something at all and feeling pressure to do it to perfection.

Engaged, disengaged, and "other"
Evidently such doldrums are commonplace. According to an article in the Gallup Management Journal, 59 percent of employees are "disengaged" and another 14 percent are "actively disengaged."

"There is probably a continuum from the mildly bored to people who have resigned themselves to their situation and checked out," says Dennis Reina, co-author, along with Michelle Reina, of Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace. "We're all in a constant process of reinventing ourselves. Are we growing, going to our next developmental level? We can start out in a situation and become skilled and do it in our sleep. But unless we're learning, growing, taking some risks, even making mistakes, and getting ourselves to the next level developmentally--whether it's a job or a relationship--we have to be growing or we're dying. Otherwise, it's just a slow death, death by a thousand paper cuts."

Russ Schoen, chief information officer of Mindgarden Innovation, cites research showing that at any given time, 18 percent of people are focused on a task and 57 percent are engaged in "in and out thinking," meaning that they are involved in the work moment to some extent while giving thought to other things.

"A lot of people are in jobs for financial or health insurance or whatever, that they don't like," says Schoen. "There has to be intrinsic motivation or alienation will follow. They start daydreaming."

Daydreaming indeed: The remaining 25 percent, according to researchers, are engaged in erotic thoughts. The Working Bored find ways to pass the time. (Here are some examples.) The problem is, few of the obvious approaches offer any resolution to the problem.

Dissecting boredom
Motivation experts say that boredom stems from several factors. One is simply having outgrown a position. You've mastered the tasks, which feel repetitive. You're not advancing, and the work has lost its intrinsic appeal. Another is alienation. Either you've stopped believing in the mission and/or you have withdrawn because you don't feel adequately recognized.

There's another secret to reveal: feelings of boredom don't always come from being bored at all. Mild or deeply sublimated anxiety often disguises itself as boredom. It manifests in similar feelings and avoidance behaviors. Work anxiety can stem from having too much to do or insufficient time, support, or authority. It can be internalized, a worry that for whatever reason you're not up to the task.

The contentment that some 27 percent of employees report--and that I feel probably about 27 percent of the time--is known as equilibrium, or "flow," a concept pioneered in a 1976 study by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a professor and former chair of the University of Chicago's psychology department--and a fellow whose surname could give no small dose of anxiety to anyone who had to pronounce his last name in front of a large audience. In his 1976 study, Csikszentmihalyi defined flow as a level of total mind-body involvement that causes a person to lose all sense of time and to feel contentment in stride with an activity.

Schoen suggests that contemporary workers may face increased stress as a result of technological distractions available at work--the devices that are so familiar that it's hardly worth naming them, and which have bred an expectation of availability and rapid response.

The value of discontent
Discontent is valuable, though. It can be sage counsel posing good questions:

• Am I interested? If I'm not, how can I make it interesting? You may need to change responsibilities or find ways to make work interesting. Schoen, for example, says he likes to engage others in his work because he feeds off that energy; I work off a similar dynamic by reading drafts or telling stories related to the one I'm working on.
  
• What, specifically, is dull or worrisome? All jobs have unattractive aspects. See if you can find a new approach, and if not, whether it's possible to subcontract or delegate it.
  
• Who can I talk to? Communicate with your colleagues, clients, or boss. Worker alienation is expensive. Gallup estimates it costs the U.S. economy $370 billion. Everyone should be invested in getting you in the flow.
  
• Are my own habits contributing to the problem? Responding to every message right away is often more impulse than requirement, and distractions are a form of avoidance that won't get you closer to resolving what ails you.

Todd Pitock, a long-time Juggle contributor, looks for ways to ease boredom and anxiety in Villanova, PA.