Boredom Isn't So Smart

How can we overcome boredom and resist becoming boring ourselves?

One of the most common sources of distress and a sense of time not well spent is boredom, which Webster defines as "the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest." It carries a sense of dissatisfaction and withdrawal of involvement in the environment or ones circumstances. The classic signs of boredom are well known: suddenly we're yawning, our eyes get glazed over, we feel restlessness, slouch in our chairs, get distracted, and so on.

The word bore, actually comes from the Old English, bor, meaning to auger or to make a hole and is derived from the sense of making a long hole in the ground, as in ploughing. I think most people categorize boredom as an emotional state, but psychologists tend to study it as an aspect of motivation, a determinant involving our abilities to choose and to act, consistent with our values and goals in life.

We all know what it feels like to be bored. Is there some sort of psychological or biological mechanism involved in our becoming bored?

Oddly enough, boredom is not a widely researched area.

One theory identifies both boredom and anxiety as examples of a mismatch between situational demands and one's perceived abilities. For example, we tend to experience anxiety when we feel demands are greater than our abilities, but we experience boredom when we find the task or situation is not challenging enough.

Another important aspect of boredom is monotony — which comes with a sense of constant repetition. Psychologists use the term, "habituation response" to describe how the brain and attention seem to fade out when we are exposed to different kinds of constant or monotonous stimuli. It's how we tolerate living near the freeways - the brain filters out the repetition as noise. When we're bored, we tend to filter out everything else too!

A friend said to me that he never gets bored, because he's always doing something, whether it's about work or family or even getting into mischief. How can boredom lead to trouble for some people?

You know they say, "an idle mind is the devil's workshop." One of the big problems with boredom is a lack of engaging stimulation. Boredom is a disconnection from meaningful involvements and purposes. When we know we're doing something important or when something valuable is at stake, boredom is gone. If we don't have the tools or the habits to maintain a sense of purpose, then our minds tends to wander. Here we get into trouble with activities like overeating to "fill the void", or over-stimulating pursuits that can get us into trouble or waste a lot of time or resources, high-stakes gambling and substance abuse.

I know that businesses have a big stake in keeping their employees productivity. What can we do to deal with boredom in the workplace?

Boredom can be a contributing source of job stress for employees who feel a lack of challenge or appreciation. It can be a costly source of under productivity due to loss of focus, reduced activity levels, and the sheer amount of idle time spent just being bored. Employers need to design workspaces and assign responsibilities to keep their workers involved, i.e. control repetition, vary assignments, and encourage them to participate in the company's mission.

What's the cure for boredom?

Voltaire said that the secret of being a bore is to tell everything, so here I go. Borrowing from the research and my own experience as a therapist, I recommend the following:

 Remember that variety is the spice of life and a great cure for boredom too. So, try to design your work and daily activities to promote the positive differences in the things that you do.
 Since boredom almost always withdraws energy from the task or situation, try to find some way to re-invest, such as looking for an interesting, entertaining, or even amusing aspect of the situation to get a hook back into the task. Get involved and participate with your ears and your words.
 Finally, boredom is a condition of passivity. Do your best to shift into a more active mode of thought and behavior. As a learner, actively engage the teacher or the lecture, even when limited to note taking. Remind yourself that you’re here for your own learning and then take charge of it by resisting boredom and engaging with enthusiasm, interest and personal commitment.

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