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I was struggling with boredom at work and that eventually led me to articles about problems that gifted adults often experience at work. I read Gifted Workers: Hitting the Target and Gifted Grownups. I got reacquainted with my old identity that had gotten buried deep down.

Now I have words again for my experience, but I don't know what to do with it. The problems gifted people face don't stop when they get out of school, but the support structures seemingly disappear. I don't even know how to discuss what I'm going through with people outside of my family without sounding arrogant.

So I'm here trying to get some ideas.

Are there other active communities for gifted people online (not Facebook)?

Is there any hope of finding a therapist/counselor that understands gifted adults in Indiana? Should I just consider remote sessions?

How do I find motivation when I'm buried in existential boredom?

How do you cope?

Your question is interesting and important but also pretty general, and I'll take a stab at it.

There is MENSA for gifted adults. Maybe MENSA members on the forum could share their experiences with it.

The "rationalist" community centered around the Slate Star Codex blog may interest you.

Intellectually gifted adults will form online and in-person communities specific to certain domains. For example, tech has Hacker News, Slashdot, and other forums.

There are online courses at places like EdX and Coursera that one can use to initiate or develop intellectual interests.

You used to have be on the hardcopy preprint list of leading researchers to stay up-to-date with research in a field. Now you can get working papers at places like Arxiv and SSRN.

Universities have public events and extension courses. Libraries and recreation departments offer some intellectually stimulating classes.

Yes, Mensa is very helpful for some, but not for everyone. Keep in mind, like every other organization there are different personalities. I can't stand some in our local group, and others are wonderful. I'm sure I rub others the wrong way too.

Some geographical areas are more developed than others. The monthly magazine is pretty fun in its way, and if your area isn't 'developed' the national magazine is nice. Just don't leave it around the house for people to discover. You'll never hear the end of it from friends and family.

I did our local newsletter for about five years. It was actually quite fun meeting a deadline. I'd never done a newsletter before. The wonderful thing about editing a Mensa newsletter is you don't have to edit very much, and you get to follow up with questions to the contributors (if their article is interesting)

Alan

Hi McKinley!

Boredom at work is the story of my career! If you can figure out what to do about it, or even who to talk to about it, I'm all ears.

I've found the rainforestmind blog helpful for reassurance that I'm not completely crazy. Here is a recent post about work.

I've had no trouble securing two grades skips for my son, but in 15 years of working, I've never been able to secure anything like appropriate challenge for myself, despite having a terminal degree and changing jobs every 2-3 years. I no longer believe in greener pastures, and my ambition is pretty much dead.

My coping strategy at the moment is to write fiction about the subject, but it's hard to do even that without sounding arrogant. Writing does at least allow me to use big words, be creative and productive, and advance at my own pace.

I'm trying to convince myself that work is just work, not a vehicle for developing your potential or giving meaning to your life. That doesn't do much for my mental health though.

40 hours a week is a LOOOOOONNNG time to stagnate and bite your tongue.

Maybe consider that all of the people stocking the shelves at the grocery store or cleaning up after you when you leave work each day also had to accept that "work is just work, not a vehicle for developing your potential or giving meaning to your life."

It would be lovely if we all had meaningful and fulfilling jobs (regardless of IQ). I'm pretty sure most would take existential boredom over poverty and many are happy for a paycheck at all.

This message board is becoming so elitist lately I'm questioning why I even come here anymore. Guess I shouldn't have read this thread when already in a bad mood about my 2E son not being able to attend a service he desperately needs because they changed the time and date after we spent months getting in. So, sorry to rain on your pity party, but my real life sucks every day too, and not only because of first world problems.

I'll probably get banned for this post while others continue to post racist articles and complain about minorities taking away their white privilege. When did this site stop being about helping our kids?

I can sympathize with anyone who is bored at work, regardless of class, and wouldn't encourage anyone to simply resign him/herself to either boredom or poverty. That's a pretty bleak way of framing life's options. I'm more inclined to advocate for a basic minimum income and the abolition of BS white collar jobs than to defend meaningless work because other people don't have even that.

I also don't see how a gifted adult who is chronically depressed due to underemployment is that different from a child who is depressed/developing behavioral problems due to lack of challenge in school. I certainly wouldn't tell my son to just buck up and be glad he gets to go to school if he were truly doodling and daydreaming there all day just to keep from going nuts.

The biggest difference I can see is that as an adult, I can quit my job and move somewhere. A kid has to settle in where ever his parents put her/him

SaturnFan, I apologize if it comes off as elitist, or privileged. I'm very aware of that danger, that's why I chose the adult age-specific forum of a site that's only of interest to people dealing with gifted issues. It felt like a safe place to let down my guard and express my actual thoughts rather than the sanitized ones that make people feel more comfortable with me.

MsFriz, your post gives me something to be grateful for today. The one thing people want is to know that they aren't alone. I've had many of the same thoughts you express.

I have ordered two more books to read Dabrowski's Positive Disintegration and Living with Intensity.

I've searched a lot for gifted adult communities online and aside from paid groups and Facebook groups and paid Facebook groups this is the most active I've found. It's sad to see comments and blog posts on other sites that resonate and then see that the last activity was five years ago. If nothing else, you can talk to me. So that's a start.

I have articles that I'd like to share with my boss that lay out exactly how I feel. They literally describe all of the problems I have and how other people perceive those problems. But I feel like I couldn't share those without blacking out the word 'gifted' to avoid appearing elitist.

I'm not looking for pity. I'm looking for understanding that just like getting good grades doesn't mean kids don't need help, having a good paying job doesn't mean adults need help. And when I say help I mean in an emotional, philosophical sense. I never stop asking why. That's my problem. Compulsive why.

Sidebar: I'm also trying to express myself in creative fiction (graphic novel in my case) and realized my best course might be to use my real world experiences and dilemmas to define my characters. I'm just currently struggling through a trough of motivation.

It may be helpful to find aspects of your work that are the "least bad" parts and develop your skills and position in that direction. I found that focusing on the least bad aspects did help me stay in a job that represents "underemployment" for me.

If you are still in an early- to mid-career stage of life, you may be able to re-train or supplement your training to switch to a career with more challenge. If you can't switch, I'd recommend developing truly challenging hobbies. Some examples of challenging hobbies: There's a group of Japanese "white hat" hackers that joins together and cracks crypto-currency theft cases after work. There are adults (and younger people) that play in bridge, chess, and poker tournaments. There are people that organize and volunteer at "repair events" and "repair cafes" and fix everything from electronics to clothing. There are lots of musicians playing for free or very little money in combos, bands, and orchestras. All of these groups are primarily people challenging themselves after work.

To join in with an earlier statement, this is kind of like after-schooling for adults. Learn, grow, keep busy, while not relying solely on work/school to meet all your needs and still acknowledging that work/school is necessary at this time for you. Isn't this why we sign the kiddos up for computer camp, math camp, and music lessons etc.?

I recommend seeing how you can help your local government. There are often citizen positions on boards and commissions. They do important work and having people with inquisitive minds that can process a lot of information would be really helpful.