According to Deirdre O'Shaughnessy, General Manager with InterIM Executives Ltd, one of the ironies of a successful career is that success itself can seriously dull the work experience.

"You become so good at what you do that you can do it all blind-folded, filling a working day that asks little in terms of effort but returns just as little in terms of job satisfaction, " she says. "Or perhaps you're one of those that have climbed the promotion ladder to the extent that your core competencies were long ago left on the lower rungs, and your days are now devoted to administrative tasks."

Indeed, while workplace boredom was once thought to have afflicted employees engaged in repetitive and mundane tasks, the truth is that boredom has seeped upwards from the assembly lines to infect highly skilled, professional and managerial positions. And, according to Northumbria University psychologist Martyn DyerSmith, boredom has the same impact on the body as stress: people can, quite literally, be "bored to death".

There are few cures, at least in the working world, for this particular form of executive malaise. One could try to reorganise one's work load so that the boring parts are interspersed with the more interesting tasks; or there is the option of seeking a sideways move to another company (if you are at the top, there is not much higher that you can go). But this runs the risk of simply jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Retirement is always an option, although this is probably not going to do much to alleviate boredom. This is why becoming an interim executive can be an ideal solution to the problem . . . as an interim executive, you will almost invariably be parachuted into a new situation, usually at a time when things are at their most active, and when a wide range of your skills will be tested.

"A major appeal of working as an interim is that you are engaged precisely for the skill sets you've achieved through education, training, and experience, " says O'Shaughnessy. "Those are the attributes interims are hired for (clients never come in search of bureaucrats), and because each assignment is different and has its own clearly-stated goals, there is never any shortage of new challenges, new faces, and new environments."

As an interim manager, you will be expected to hit the ground running and deliver measurable results.

But your experience and expertise, not to mention your proven track record, should enable you to seamlessly integrate into a new organisation, as well as allowing you to deliver the goods in a measurable manner. All of which should offset any trepidation regarding what is, essentially, a major career change.

"Giving up the secure job is not a decision taken lightly, but those at the top of their game can usually negotiate a comfortable severance package, " says O'Shaughnessy. "Also, those that make a success of interim management are not financially punished for their adventurism, as each interim commands remuneration rates commensurate with their status (and costed to account for pension and other needs). They are, however, also rewarded with a working pattern in which there is no element whatever of tedium and where a renewed sense of purpose and job satisfaction breathe new life into a career entering its final stages."