Hi!
This week I want to take some time to explore a topic that I don’t find people talking about very often: boredom.
I’ve found that when we think of it, we see it as an annoyance to be avoided, something very far from being a good use of our time, but what if we’re looking at boredom all wrong?
In this week’s post we’ll delve into a different perspective on this subject and how being bored can help us live a better life in a world where we often want to fill every moment of idleness.
A new way to understand boredom
Boredom is a feeling that we are all familiar with, the lethargic, unmotivated state we get into when we have nothing to do.
But here’s the misconception that I think is worth noting; boredom does not come when we don’t have anything to do, but rather when none of the options available to us are appealing.
This may seem irrelevant, but I think it is critically important as it allows us to think of boredom as a form of feedback for the activities we engage in. A warning that helps us recognize when things are not going how we’d like them to.
On top of this, the fact that boredom is an unpleasant feeling makes it a form of stimulus that spurs us to seek new options, let our minds wander and explore the countless alternatives that could be truly interesting to us.
This form of call to action may be the very thing that can make us reflect on our lives and what we want to do with them, recognize the things that we are not satisfied with, and then make meaningful changes to our paths.
Distractions and their potential costs
When talking about boredom it seems hard not to mention the role that distractions play, because for a lot of us these days, whenever we feel boredom creeping into our existence, we shut it down immediately by reaching into our pockets and pulling out our phones, and with these comes the endless access to information and entertainment that can be so effective at capturing our attention.
But if we consider that being bored can serve as a sign of dissatisfaction with some aspect of our lives, could it be that we’re doing ourselves a disservice by ignoring it?
I think that this is a question that requires a nuanced approach.
On one side, yes, I think that a lot of the time we tend to fall for distractions that simply take our minds off of the feeling, and in doing so we take away our chance to evaluate our lives and contemplate any changes that could help us.
On the other side, this doesn’t mean that our phones, or any other piece of tech, are terrible per se.
I think the key distinction to make is whether we are using these tools in an intentional way that helps us live the kind of life we want to live, or are we using them to avoid the hard exercise of reflecting on life?
Embracing boredom
If after reading this you like the idea of leaving a little room in your life for boredom, here’s some practical advice for making the most of the time you allow for it.
Whenever you are bored and feel the urge to reach for a distraction, ask yourself: “Is this thing I want to do something important to me, or is it just a distraction?
If you manage to avoid distractions and stay bored, try to look around you or within you and find an object or idea that seems interesting, something that can feed your curiosity.
If you’ve decided you want to stop getting distracted, but you have a hard time breaking old habits; the easiest and most effective way I know to deal with this is to add friction to the activity you want to stop doing. In the case of our phones, you can delete apps or use an app blocker.
To put an end to this post, I’d like to say that in a world that urges constant activity, I believe that redefining boredom as a catalyst for reflection and change is a practice most of us can benefit from. Embracing boredom allows us to explore new interests, reassess priorities, and make meaningful changes. So, next time boredom strikes, embrace it as an opportunity to live more intentionally and fulfillingly.
-Alan
P.S. From this day, I'm shifting my publishing schedule to Mondays, honoring my commitment to consistent content delivery. If you want to share your thoughts about this you can reply to this post or email me at simple.insight.nl@gmail.com I’d love to hear your feedback.