Work is messing with my brain

You guys might think this isn't a problem, but it is. I don't have enough work to do on my job, and it's severely affecting my brain. I'm a manager and give one of my people some of my non-management work to keep her busy. I don't want her to get bored and leave, because she does great work. And if she does leave, I'll have too much work to get done by myself.

So...the end result is that I'm incredibly bored and don't have many projects to work on. My manager hasn't noticed. At least she's not saying anything. And I haven't wanted to point it out.

I'm afraid that my coworkers can see through my fakeness in trying to cover up how sad I am.

"Just find a new job" is what some people think. This job has so many perks, and jobs are rare in my town. How do I adjust my thinking to avoid being so sad all of the time?

I make a list of things I'm grateful for very frequently. That only helps temporarily.

I used to have your kind of problem when a plant manager would not order the materials I needed for a project I had been hired to do...and that often left me with little or nothing to do. I think I would try talking to your manager just to ask whether there is anything you might be able to do to help fill in some of the time when your own workload seems low, then see what kind of response you get.

What field are you in? I tend to read journals and do webinars when I have down time. Keeps me entertained and the stuff I learn makes me more valuable. Sometimes the things I learn end up turning into projects.

Sorry you're bored all the time. That can't be any fun. ):

I like scatterbrained's ideas of working on improving your skills. It helps keep you a desirable employee and keeps you mentally sharp. You'll probably feel a lot better doing something like that since you'll be distracting yourself as opposed to being alone with your own thoughts.

But you should talk to your manager before she finds out. It'll look bad on you if you don't speak up... because if she finds out, she may think you're irresponsible and untrustworthy. You don't want that. Plus, if you tell her you want to do more work, she may think very highly of you.

I would talk to your manager. It's never a bad thing to ask for more work. It would look bad however if he/she notices and thinks you're just goofing off.

Thank you all for your great advice. I'm very grateful to have a place to come to. I've already started to implement some of your ideas and feel a little better.

I have the opposite problem. I'm constantly busy at work and it messes with me. It's one of the stressors I deal with.