boredom
I’m bored.
It is the dreaded sentence for parents and rec therapists alike.
Boredom is seen as the end of the line. The worst thing that can happen to someone. Won’t someone do something about (insert person). Get them doing something!!!!! ACTIVATE them!!!! My favorite has always been a team member telling me to take clients bowling. As if bowling is an interest of all.
In his article: The Bright Side of Boredom, Andreas Elpidorou discusses boredom. In our capitalist culture, boredom is seen as exclusively negative. Unhappiness, suffering and sometimes a character flaw is how the world is seen through boredom’s lens. But what if we changed the way we saw boredom? Maybe even more like a friend?
You see, boredom tells us something is wrong. It lets us know when we have strayed from our goals, hopes or interests. It nudges us when we are feeling unfulfilled and listless. Without those feelings beneath alerting us to a problem, being at rest is not boredom and should not be categorized as such. The person’s perception of the situation, including their mood and interests need to be accounted for when looking at boredom and how to manage it.
The other opportunity in boredom is consistency. In his book Atomic Habits , James Clear mentions a quote from an elite coach. He says: “At some point it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day, doing the same lifts over and over and over”. Your boredom is a super power. If you can withstand the boredom of consistency you can accomplish so much. The people who can stick with their plans even when they are no longer exciting are the people who can do great things.
When you’re bored you can use that as an opportunity to focus on what you’re not doing or you can see what you actually crave. “My body hurts from sitting watching tv all day” or “I keep eating mindlessly”. What you’re really craving is activity and mindfulness. I don’t think distraction is the key here- we are distracted nearly every part of everyday. In her book: Bored and Brilliant, Manoush Zomorodi discusses how technology can be a distraction or an aide. Join the Bored and Brilliant challenge explained here :
Downtime, as discussed in Mary Helen Immordino-Yang’s paper entitled: Rest is not Idleness: Implications of the Brain's Default Mode for Human Development and Education reviews the benefits for your brain and social development while at rest.
The Default Mode is described by Marcus E Raichle as the activity of your brain when you’re not engaged in sustained attention. It is an interesting area of research to look into. Meditation is not seen as “rest” and is further discussed in this article.
As we head into the Christmas break (and another lockdown where I live) try to reframe how you see your routine tasks and your boredom. Those things will lead you to your larger goals if you just take the time to listen.
Please enjoy Author Manoush Zomorodi’s Ted Talk. Her book Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self is worth a look too.