Boredom, the Brain, the Universe. Pt. 1/3
27. Mar, 2010 
2 Comments
Let’s discuss boredom for a second. Maybe gain a little perspective and insight on ourselves and others.
If you take a moment to consider boredom and reflect upon it, it’s fairly interesting. I mean, realistically, we spend (and are going to spend) a lot of our time ‘bored’ with what’s currently going on in our lives. Be it going to/from work/school (to say nothing about actually being in-class/at work), waiting for something or someone. We have a tendency (that marketers have capitalized upon in a big way) to fill the ‘down time’ in our lives with unnecessary distractions. Texting, games, music, magazines, (food) – you name it.
Speaking for myself here and (hopefully) others, I’ve noticed that we have a tendency to become bored and complacent when things are safe and predictable. Time, in all it’s subjective glory, slows to a crawl and begins a feedback loop – the more boredom you suffer from, the more you focus on the time and the slower it goes which reinforces the boredom and so on and so forth.
An awful (but interesting) scenario that tends to happen most commonly in the last hour or so of work.
It happens in a lot of situations, though. That time-slowing sense of anticipation that strolls hand-in-hand with boredom. Boredom doesn’t take command of your attention when you’re having a brew with friends and colleagues, loving life and laughing it up; it becomes your main focus when your feet hurt, your back aches and when you’re tired of standing and moving and you want to sit down but there’s only about a hundred minutes left at work and you would like nothing more than to leave, but need to stay.
It happens in the classroom. The teacher is droning on about some subject that is sort of relevant to the field you’re pursuing (but not really) and you may find yourself getting a little sleepy. You may text a little. You’ll almost certainly give a big ol’ yawn.
I think the cause of the problem is as tragic as the solution is simple.
You’re too old.
Now, now, don’t take it the wrong way. Please stop crying! I didn’t mean it! It’s not you, it’s me!
Seriously, though. As we grow up, I think we have a tendency to lose our sense of childlike wonder at situations that seem commonplace and normal and (like that comforting sense of security I mentioned earlier) become complacent and take things for granted. Our imaginations wither and atrophy after years of tedious, structured classes during the most important formative years of our lives – except on those rare occasions when instructors actually gave you the opportunity to get just a little itty bitty teeny tiny creative and run with it (within structured borders, of course).
We (our brains) slack off because we make the decision, consciously or subconsciously, to do so. It’s a very “mind over matter” type of situation. You’re as bored, or as interested, as you (generally) choose to be.
But there’s a very easy way to combat most kinds of boredom. It involves letting your mind drift, just a little. Let it play out random, completely ridiculous scenarios as you engage in the most tedious of tasks. Granted, stocking shelves at the local Quick-E-Mart isn’t exactly a thrilling experience no matter how you present it – but, for example; what would you do if… BRAIN-EATING ZOMBIES BURST IN THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR AND ATTACKED! AHHHHHH! And not those wimpy slow motion George Romero zombies, either! The freaky fast sprinter zombies from Dawn of the Dead/28 Days Later! HOLY CRAP! AIIIIEE- What? Oh, sorry – yeah, soup’s in aisle six.
Take a minute to think about it. What skills would you need to develop and improve upon in order to combat the boredom you typically feel? Focus? Concentration? Mental relaxation? Meditative breathing? The ability to do something that doesn’t exactly satisfy the need for immediate gratification in order to accomplish a greater (future) good?
Pshh – when would you ever need any of those skills?!
Next time you find yourself bored and mentally slacking; turn off your Ipod, put away your phone, disconnect from the internet and take a few minutes to do some introspection. Why are you bored? What can you do about it?
After you do, get back to me – I’d love to hear about what you can come up with.
About The Author
I’m glad to know that you find boredom interesting (because I write about it at ThePowerOfBoredom.com). And you write very well. In fact, I’d like to quote from you, with your permission, in subsequent posts or the book I’m preparing.
You have said that one way to exit boredom is to let your mind drift into adventurous or silly “scenarios.’ It’s one of my favorite ways. But as a boredom investigator, I have found people who actually cannot visualize in that way, who never even get a mental picture when reading a book, for example, who cannot imagine a story. Too bad. But they do get their neurochemicals going by physical activity. They desperately want to dribble out the classroom door and take a few hoop shots. And it IS about neurochemicals. Each of us must find our own Elements of Interest, those aspects of life that get dopamine flowing to the reward centers of the brain. See my ThePowerOfBoredom.com for that. I coach bored students and students with ADHD (whose basic problem may be slow flow of dopamine) to liven up their studies and manage their lives better. I coach by phone and internet, so check out also http://www.LetitiaLifeCoaching.com. I look forward to your part 2 but I don’t know how to find/receive it. Can you drop me an e mail via my sites to alert me to its publication and link? Thanks.
Very, very interesting!
Upon reading your blog I realized you could not be more right – in fact most people in our society eagerly turn to social media such as twitter, facebook, etc the moment that they believe they are bored. In fact, there is no reasoning for it at all.
This can even be further emphasized through the fact that I am reading and replying to your blog right now.
That being the case, in response to your question, what can we do to prevent or battle our boredom, I’m afraid i am not certain. However, I’ll think about it next time I’m bored and get back to you!
Great work!