Boredom: Tips against boredom

Everyone has one of those days when you don't feel like doing anything at all. You have nothing to do and everything people suggest you do seems like nothing at all. Then you go somewhere and still you don't enjoy yourself. Boredom is a really annoying state of being, so that needs to change. That's why in this blog you will read tips against boredom

Boredom: What is it?

Everyone is sometimes bored, but how best to describe this vague feeling. Boredom is actually the loss of interest in what you are/were doing or persons around you.

If you’re wondering: where does the phrase “I’m bored to death” come from? Well, if you’re very bored, you’re more likely to die than if you’re rarely or never bored[1]. Most people who participated in a study on whether boredom leads to earlier death died from cardiovascular disease.

You are more likely to be bored if you are a woman, at a younger age, if you have a more inactive lifestyle, you don't work much and if you feel you have poor health.

What to do when bored

You might think that boredom is nothing but bad news, but that’s not the case. Research in which people were asked to perform a boring task or one likely to induce boredom shows that when they are then required to use their creativity, it functions better[2].

So, feeling bored from time to time isn’t a big deal, but it does become a problem if you’re chronically bored. First, you can look at the factors that contribute to boredom. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you could start exercising a bit more, and if you don’t work much, you could see if there’s something you can take up, such as blogging, writing poetry, painting, vlogging, or simply looking for a job with more hours.

In addition, you can also examine which beliefs are holding you back from taking action and why you reject certain activities before even giving them a chance to alleviate your boredom.

Tips against boredom

Are you bored every day or every other day. Then it's definitely a good idea to do something against your boredom. That's why I have some useful tips for you.

Tip #1: If you're on your own.

Of course, if you are alone, you are slightly more likely to be bored. Being alone and being bored go hand in hand for some people. Especially when all your friends and family members are occupied.

The key then is to challenge yourself. Indeed, boredom occurs when you do not feel challenged or when what you are doing does not feel meaningful to you[3]. Therefore, try to make what you are going to do something that challenges you (finally cleaning up that room) or something that has meaning, such as volunteering.

Tip #2: If you're at home...

If you are at home and you are bored you can of course tell yourself to go out, but sometimes this is not possible. Again, it is important to challenge yourself or give yourself meaning.

Learning something will make you less bored at home. For example, pick up a musical instrument and try to master playing it on YouTube. You can learn a lot with YouTube anyway, even if it has nothing to do with music.

Tip 3: Boredom games

Of course, there are all kinds of games you can do if you are bored. It's not for nothing that gaming[4] can be so incredibly addictive for people who don't have a job or who otherwise have a fairly small social life.

Then try challenging yourself with games such as sudoku or knowledge games when you and your friends are bored, such as with the 30-second party game.

Tip 4: Gifted and bored

Are you gifted? Then you are less likely to be challenged at school or sometimes even at work, and you may become bored more quickly. Because boredom can disappear when you challenge yourself or when what you do has meaning, look at your giftedness in a different way.

If you’ve already finished your homework or work, which of your classmates or coworkers still needs help? By helping others with your gifted knowledge, you can put an end to boredom.

Tip 5: Boredom with your partner

The honeymoon phase is over, and you now know your partner inside and out. This can make you feel like everything has become predictable, and you may start to get bored with your partner. This feeling may even be mutual.

If this bothers you, make a list of activities you can do together that are challenging or meaningful to you.

By undertaking joint missions, that feeling of boredom is quickly gone and you just reconnect with each other in a fun way.

Tip #6: Boredom on your vacation

When you've already seen the whole world you can get bored at some point. Studies of elderly people going on vacation show that when they participate in group activities it is good for their well-being while on vacation.

The group activity itself does not even have to be of good quality[5].

So find something you can do with a group at your vacation spot. Such as a tourist tour of the place, horseback riding in a group or enjoy rowing or something similar. With the higher social interaction, you already have less time to be bored.

Tip 7: Boredom at work

Unfortunately, it’s not just burnout that occurs at work— bore-out happens too. Work no longer offers any challenge at all and feels pointless. How do you move forward from here?

Initially, you can ask your supervisor for additional tasks that are more challenging for you.

If there aren't any, you can show initiative. Which colleagues can you help? Is there something at work that is not being addressed or that you can create an improvement plan for? By working on this you can be meaningful, help your colleagues and show your hidden talents to managers.

Tip 8: Boredom without money

Sometimes it seems like you need money to do something fun, but is that really the case? For example, do you need money to do volunteer work? Do you need money to go for a walk or a run? Do you need money to play with the neighbor’s cat or dog? Or do you need money just to participate in one of those clothing swap events?

How hypnosis helps against boredom

These 8 tips can help you against boredom, but if you find that you can't implement them. That something is stopping you from getting in your legs, it's time to check if there isn't a deeper problem behind your boredom.

For example, do you feel weird about volunteering? Are you afraid of what people will think of you if you pick up a hobby on your own? Do you get insecure about getting active or trying to help colleagues? Then hypnosis can help you come out of your shell and fight boredom.

Hypnosis helps by influencing the subconscious thoughts and beliefs that keep you sitting or lying on the couch, bored.

Initially, you engage in a conversation with the hypnosis expert about your boredom and why you find it difficult to perform a certain activity that may secretly save you from your boredom.

If you can't quite answer that why question, regression can help determine why boredom is apparently preferable to doing something challenging or meaningful. This is because regression takes you back to that moment when your subconscious decided this. In doing so, you can look at it with more emotional distance to see if this belief makes as much sense as you have always thought. This allows you to change your mind quickly, making you less likely to get bored.

Another way to put yourself into action is to improve your imagination. In fact, people often need to see how something goes before they do it. If you find this difficult, a hypnosis expert can help you with this during a guided visualization. In that visualization you feel, for example, how you successfully help people or perform a challenging task, which increases the chance that you will actually get started.

Hypnosis has all kinds of techniques to remove internal blockages that keep you trapped in your home and in social isolation or whatever the reason for boredom is. This makes you feel freer and able to do more things you feel like doing.

Want to know exactly how hypnosis makes this possible? Then come to a hypnosis workshop or sign up for one of our training programs.

[1] https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/39/2/370/684049

[2] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400419.2014.901073

[3] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9234-9

[4] https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0026

[5] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1096348002026002006