3 kinds of boredom
- A form of anxiety. We search for external antidote to boredom: Netflix, a device, company to rescue us.
- Rooted in fear. We are afraid of being alone with ourselves and paying attention to who we are.
- The realization that what really makes us feel bored is our thoughts, not reality itself - the world is predictable, our thoughts about it are repetitive.
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Ages ago, when people were busy trying to survive, boredom wasn’t a choice. They spent all their time securing food or shelter.
We are now overstimulated — easy access to infinite entertainment options is feeding boredom rather than discouraging it.
Boredom is responsible for increased risk of overeating, gambling, alcohol, drug abuse.
Individuals with high boredom-proneness are more likely to suffer from anxiety, OCD depression.
- Meditate: Once you stop resisting boredom, it’s no longer threatening;
- Boredom feeds creativity: Mind wandering invites creativity.
- Avoid technology: Entertainment snacks will make you crave for more.
- Recover the joy in performing mundane tasks: Recovering the pleasure of performing small duties builds a sense of pride and achievement.
People embrace busyness because they are having a hard time being alone and enjoying it.
Being busy is a tricky form of entertainment however — we don’t feel the boredom, but it isn’t fun either.
Boredom is a disconnection to everything we can offer the world and vice versa. It's not influenced by external simulation, it's actually an indicator of how you engage with the world.
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Flow is the satisfying feeling of absorption we get when we’re wholly focused on an enjoyable, open-ended activity, of which we are in control but which stretches our abilities. But if our skills are greater than those needed to accomplish the activity boredom is the result.
Paradoxically, trying to avoid boredom can result in a kind of dissatisfaction, experienced as boredom.
In most of the ancient literature and philosophy, boredom is considered a personal, social and moral weakness.
Philosophers talk about boredom as proof that life is essentially meaningless, and that boredom hovers around any secure life like a shadow.
Boredom is an unsatisfied search for neural stimulation. But, there is scientific evidence that boredom prompts the mind to entertain itself and can enable creativity and problem-solving by allowing the mind to wander and daydream.
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