Anti-boredom

“Mooooommy, we’re boooored”… There’s probably not a single parent who isn’t exasperated by this phrase. How can you be bored when you, my dear kids, have a million toys, books and games!

But this is interesting… You, an adult, have the Internet, social media, urgent errands, movies, exhibitions, political and business news, friends. And yet you also, from time to time state as you’re miserably staring into space: “Eh, I’m kinda bored…”.

So, what is this state of boredom and where does it come from in our “non-boring” times?

To begin with, this is not a neutral emotion (as it might seem at first glance), but a negatively colored one. The passive state of a bored person, with a lack of interest in everything around him, is often accompanied by irritability and murky anxiety, which, mind you, may not be realized.

Like any strong emotion, boredom doesn’t just appear from out of nowhere.

Let’s try to find a source of your “bored state” and the possible options for changing the situation.

I don’t want to and I won’t

You have such an easy and happy time doing your favorite stuff! But what about your least favorite? Correct, you “force yourself”. That’s why it can take forever to write a dull report, start and give up useless courses, take ages to choose a cafe and an entertainer for an unwanted party. Boredom and irritation emerge where you have to do something you really don’t want to, and you can’t do something that you do want.

For consideration: why are you doing what you’re not interesting in? How did that happen? Can this situation be changed? Perhaps you have a chance to change something today – just listen to your feelings more carefully.

Where did the circus go?

If your parents played entertainers for your entire childhood and adolescence, doing everything just so you wouldn’t cry, the adults in your life “didn’t sign up for that”. In this case, your boredom comes from an unsatisfied desire for passive entertainment and your inability to create an interesting reality for yourself.

For consideration: perhaps it’s time to grow up and learn to receive powerful and useful experiences on your own?

Elementary

Too simple, monotonous and effortless tasks can also induce boredom with time. The lack of novelty, opportunity to choose and develop gradually lead to misery and the feeling of one’s own uselessness.

For consideration: what did you use to find appealing about this routine? What’s stopping you from changing boring, monotonous activities?

Locked up

Indeed, it’s a serious test to be alone with your thoughts: alone at home, quarantined, at the airport due to flight delays, at a long line to a civil servant’s office. In these cases, boredom and anxiety mean that you really don’t want to face your inner self.

For consideration: which “demons” are you so afraid of facing? Old resentment, unspent and subconscious emotions, suppressed desires – perhaps you should deal with all this unnecessary life baggage.

Nothing’s right

You’re bored and miserable, because your project isn’t that important, because anybody can be a caring parent, because your misery about your loss is indecent and useless. Basically, nothing matters. And if you look a bit deeper, nothing has value. If you constantly resort to psychological protection like depreciation, then you’ll very soon be faced with a sense of the meaninglessness of your life and a feeling of eternal boredom.

For consideration: why are you depreciating? Is it defense against deep feelings, fear, competition, misfortunes? Either way, you have to find another, more sustainable way to get rid of your inner discomfort.

As you can see, there could be different reasons for boredom, but there’s a single first step towards battling it – deal with yourself and your life attitudes. If everything’s fine there but the state of despondency keeps showing up, try these things:

• movement: in any form, as long as it’s for pleasure and with the release of endorphins: walking and jogging, team sports, water-related activities, hiking, etc.
  
• crafts: creating something beautiful with your hands is a great way to chase away boredom and release your creative potential: sewing, pottery, floristry, building models, etc.
  
• reading: choose a genre that’s the closest to your spiritual state and immerse yourself in another reality: fantasy, mystery, historical drama, a romance novel. To love reading is to get rid of boredom once and for all.