I'm So Bored!
Last night I got a text from a friend that started with, “I’m so bored!”. I completely understood why she might feel that way. Many of the things that we do to make our lives interesting and satisfying have changed or stopped. We no longer have the opportunity to look forward to going to dinner with our friends, we’re not planning trips, and we have stopped many other activities that we look forward to. Plus, many of us have extra time in our day since we are not commuting to work and our schedule is not filled with errands. This leaves many of us with excess time on our hands.
In reflecting on her text, I have to admit, I feel bored even though I have more than enough to do. So why do I feel this way? That prompted me to review recent research on this topic. And here’s what I found.
Boredom is an individual experience. What you might find boring is totally fascinating to me and vice versa. And it isn’t simply a lack of things to do or the sameness of the day. It could happen when something is too easy or too hard. Boredom can also occur when we feel what we are doing has no meaning.
CAUSES OF BOREDOM
Researchers have described the causes of boredom as falling into four groups:
Over Challenged. Having too much mental stimulation or when something is too difficult, such as reading a highly technical research article or trying to follow complex directions to assemble something.
Under Challenged. Having too little mental stimulation or when something is too easy, such as mindlessly playing a video game or driving on an empty, straight highway.
Lacking Meaning. Occurs when what we are doing does not match up with our goals and may seem pointless.
Mixed. Occurs in situations where an activity lacks meaning and may be either too challenging or underchallenging. For example, completing a mindless task just because our supervisor required us to do so has meaning because it is linked to our paycheck, but it may not be mentally stimulating. On the other hand, something may be mentally stimulating but lacks meaning. For example, putting together a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. (I actually tried this. Yes, it was complex, but I really didn’t see the point.)
Most people describe boredom as some combination of feelings of frustration, mind wandering, sadness, loneliness, or distorted time perceptions. But most of all, it’s characterized by a sometimes unbearable desire to disengage in an activity that is perceived to be the cause of boredom.
By understanding what boredom is, we can better understand what boredom does. Boredom spawns a wide range of behaviors. Some of these behaviors are positive such as helping others, creativity, daydreaming, and catching up on a backlog of projects. And some are negative and result in destructive behaviors such as substance abuse.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
If you’re feeling bored, regardless of the reason, here are some things to consider to move from this uncomfortable place. Take a moment to reflect on the underlying situation or conditions that might be the cause of these feelings. You might start by considering the following to see if they are relevant to you.
Under Challenged? Add Interest. If you feel that you’re under challenged, try to add interest to tasks to make them more challenging, such as setting a time-challenge to the activity, adding music, doing them at a different time of day, or completing the task differently. You might even combine simple tasks with more complex tasks. For example, while running on the treadmill or walking outside, try using hand weights. Or when reading your emails, try listening to music or reflect on how you can respond with empathy and kindness.
Too complex? Break it down. If you perceive the situation as overly challenging, try breaking the task into small steps or reducing external distractions such as turning off music or putting away mobile phones. You might also find that taking breaks at predetermined intervals, as a reward for staying focused, might help.
Lacking Meaning? Discover new meaning. Finding meaning may require adjusting activities or goals to align with the perceived value of what we are doing. However, often we cannot change the task, so the best way to create meaning is to consider how the task you are performing impacts or benefits others. For example, taking mundane daily tasks such as food preparation and cleaning to consider how they benefit your family.
Much like pain, boredom may not be pleasant, but it serves an important function in alerting us that something is misaligned. Specifically, to diagnose the cause of boredom requires us to consider two critical pieces of information: 1) whether we are successfully engaged in our current task (attentional component) and 2) whether our current task, regardless of engagement, is meaningful (meaning component). Finding temporary solutions may work for a while, but the underlying issue will continue unless we take the time to reflect on the underlying cause.
We’re all trying to adjust to this new environment. It can be expected that we will have moments of feeling bored or frustrated. The key to successfully navigating these feelings is taking time to reflect on them without judgment and to acknowledge that we’re all doing our best.
References
Koerth-Baker, M. (2016). Boredom gets interesting. Nature, 529(7585), 146.
Westgate, E. C. (2020). Why Boredom Is Interesting. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(1), 33-40.