Overcoming Boredom: When The Sparks Go Out

No different to how we often associate loneliness with being alone, even though there is a wide contrast between these two different states that a human being can endure. Therefore, boredom (and being really, really bored) is often associated with having "nothing to do" - where boredom is actually a disconnect between who we are and where we want to be at a particular point in time. There is a gap, a void, a yearning of sorts - yet you are in a garden with endless weeds to pull, instead of being in a garden with flowers to observe, water, and enjoy. That is boredom. Dullness. No spark.

Many corporations are now measuring employees via engagement rather than mere job satisfaction. Those employers could be onto something. Disengagement with a task, or a series of tasks is the epitome of boredom with the job at hand. In more layman's terms, you are bored at work. No icing on that bland or sweet cake for you. If you are just downright miserable with life as a whole, or with a particular life area, then chances are that you are bored. If life becomes overly routine? Absolutely.

You do not need to be constantly hopping over to social media (with many tabs open on your computer) in the middle of watching a video lesson (for example) in order to know that, and/or playing with your smartphone while on the phone to a prospect or client.

All of us have been bored from time to time. Rather than vent to others about it, who want to help you or cannot do anything about it - take inspiration from the following pearls of wisdom:

"Boredom is an insult to life." - Paulo Coelho

"Boredom is the conviction that you can't change." - Eleanor Roosevelt

This technique may not be for everyone - yet it is important to catch your feelings and emotions when you say to yourself or others (usually out aloud) that you are bored.

What shape is it? How are you really feeling? If boredom was a scent, what would it smell like? How can I get myself out of this funk?

Remember, as a cool starting point, there have been times in the past where you have been fully immersed, present, and in the flow. And times when you have been sh*t scared and uncomfortable. Were you bored in those moments? Heck no. Why? Because you were clearly engaged, and time was not standing still. You have been there, and you have the power to change that boredom funk. Furthermore, you do not need to do anything as intense as climbing Mount Everest in order to alleviate boredom.

Everyone's feelings are valid - yet complaining to a friend that you are bored is not cool. It is unattractive. This is how you can lose friends from lived experience.

By reflecting on your boredom for starters, you begin to shift it, and come up with solutions to that problem - or should I say challenge. It is all well and good to research some new activities to try out, to get away from the dull and mundane routine, however start small.

There is nothing wrong with social media. In fact, social media can be an awesome support system when used in the right manner. Something begins to shift when you commit to not scrolling on the Internet on any device for a day, two days, or even an entire week. You therefore give yourself time to be even more bored (just temporarily). This is where clarity comes.

Case in point - not taking my iPhone to hospital when I had recent ankle fracture surgery was something I do not regret. Hospitals are boring. You get sleepless nights, and what seems like bottomless attention - yet you allow yourself to be bored; especially when bedridden 24-hours post surgery with both bed rails up, only able to eat, squat (at the mercy of a bed pan), and brush your teeth. You have to surrender and accept what is.

Some people do not understand how I was able to survive. As they say, when there is a will, there is always a way.

Try something new at a micro level to overcome boredom, and to get that spark back. This is not as commitment heavy (as in time and money especially) to enrol in a cooking class for the weekend, although these experiences are gold, depending on the cuisine of course. Just start by walking a different route to work, and/or to the shops. Try something new on the menu at your favourite cafe/s. Redecorate your home if you can. Just do something new and different.

Be curious and open. These are cures and tonics for boredom. Do not be concerned about making a mess, with whatever creative and hands on thing you try. Be messy in your drawings and paintings for example, and only if this resonates. (This article is empowering you to find solutions at the micro level initially, and then who knows).

If your purpose is causing boredom, then just dabble for a little bit. For example, if you are bored of non-fiction writing, then why not try your hand at poetry (an unintentional shameless plug for Vocal Media - there are Haiku and Poetry challenges going on right now - just saying). I did this with fiction writing at one point, and I came to love the character development process, thanks to Stephen King as well. Got that out of my system, and I fell in love with my craft more and more thereafter. No different to a YouTube creator trying out livestreams for the first time, if they are tired of producing straight videos for instance. Mix it up. They say that variety is the spice of life.

Be open to your spark. You never know where it could land. Meditation and quiet time can (and actually does) open up the pandora's box to something new, unique, and different that could come for free (as in no money exchanges hands, only time) by being quiet and still - even though in this world such a past-time is classed as "too boring." Quite the opposite. Being in a haze and a rush among hundreds of people if disconnected from them is boring and mundane as f*ck.

Listen to those nudges when something new resonates, or if you need to call someone for delight and inspiration.

Boredom is nothing negative to scoff at. It is simply a feedback mechanism. A yearning for change and something deeper to surface.

You could be stuck at home with a disability, and still find something new to sink your teeth into, based on what your body allows. Then again (and once again, speaking from personal experience as of right now) pilates is different and inspiring engaging in core exercises from bed when you temporarily cannot weight bear on one foot.

James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) says that boredom is one of the greatest threats to success. It depends on the context. In your career, it would be, as it would breed complacency. This is where you might have to put your hand up to volunteer to help out on a new project in order to level up. With boredom, one person might see the learning of a new skill as a boring chore, while for someone else, they see such an invitation to level up some more. Starting a side hustle in something that you have always wanted to try is the tonic for better mental health and more income sure; yet it could become more than that, or at the very least the way to get yourself out of a funk. This is why a retired person might be an Uber driver and delivery person once a week, mainly for the joy of interacting with other people, and who knows how that can be helpful if you do not dismiss their wisdom and ideas on how to help you re-ignite that spark that boredom dulls.

In concluding, it is a-ok to be bored. That is part of the human psyche and experience. Complaining about it without doing anything about it (even if you are stuck) is not sexy.

Living a charmed existence means to grab the bull by the horns, and do something about the unpleasantness that boredom creates.

Author CS Lewis (yes, the same person who took us on adventures with Narnia during the childhoods of the overwhelming majority of us) purports that saying that you are "bored" is a useless thing to say, as (according to him) being alive is a gift in and of itself. On this, CS Lewis also once commented that "the fact that you're alive is absolutely amazing."

May this song inspire. Fall in love (as in with something, not with a person - as yes, everything is romantic for sure) again and again...