Why Office Workers Crave Coffee and Chocolate

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - There's a reason you may choose that chocolate bar out of the vending machine or make that fourth cup of coffee at the office – boredom.

A new study out of the University of Lancashire in the UK found that when it comes to being bored in the office, people tend to consume chocolate and coffee to cope.

Dr. Sandi Mann conducted the study and asked 102 office workers to answer questions about how they deal with boredom while at work.

A quarter of workers said that they use chocolate and coffee as a way to ease their boredom in the office. Some of the workers also said that they were more likely to drink alcohol at the end of a boring day.

"My analysis of the results suggests that the most significant cause of office boredom is an undemanding workload. So managers should look at ways of reducing sources of workplace boredom and at encouraging healthier ways of coping," Dr. Mann explained.

Dr. Mann gave suggestions for warding off boredom in the office, by offering the following enrichment programs:

• Job rotation

• Multi-skilling

• Empowerment

Having healthy snack alternatives and drinks is also something that could help workers stay away from the chocolate and coffee, Dr. Mann recommended.

In addition to the poor eating habits, those who participated in the questionnaire for the study also said that boredom caused them to lose concentration and 50 percent of them said that they made more mistakes when bored.

Boredom in the workplace won't keep employees around either. Almost half of those asked said that boredom would encourage them to look for another job.

Dr. Mann presented her findings at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology.