What is boredom
A recent study found that idle time makes people bored and unhappy. From a scientific point of view, boredom has only recently begun to be studied. In 2012, psychologists from York University in Toronto created the first scientific definition of this condition. They studied hundreds of theories and conducted numerous interviews to find out exactly how people feel when they are bored. As a result, scientists were able to define boredom in terms of attention: a person is bored at a moment when he not only has nothing to do, he wants to do something, but for some reason cannot focus his attention on anything.
Why do we get bored
Psychologists factors that contribute to the appearance of this feeling:
For a person to feel bored, he must be in a state of strong psychological arousal. At the same time, he wants to direct his energy to some activity, but nothing attracts his attention. If a person is not particularly excited, then he will not be bored - he will feel relaxed.
Boredom is more likely to occur in situations where people have no control over what is happening. That's why we get bored in queues at the supermarket or at airports when we are waiting to board a delayed flight. Usually, when we don't like what we are doing, we simply switch to another activity. But in these cases, changing activities is not easy - and we get bored.
An object that causes boredom also often causes irritation and hatred, and these emotions can persist for a long time. Good example- “boring” works from the school literature curriculum. Typically, if a person doesn't like a book, he can simply put it down and pick up another one. But the books from the school curriculum were required reading, so they began to irritate me. It is precisely because of boredom that people continue to dislike works from the school curriculum that they did not like, even in adulthood.
Boredom as an engine of progress
Behavioral economists from Carnegie Mellon University say that boredom is a signal from the brain that mental resources are in short supply. this moment are used ineffectively, which means the person should switch to another activity. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth, boredom, like other emotions, emerged as a result of human evolutionary development with a specific purpose. So fear and anxiety were necessary for survival. And boredom is to spur mental development. Without it, Duckworth believes, we would simply repeat the same actions over and over again. Boredom forces us to move on and switch to new activities when the old ones have nothing more to teach us.
Why is boredom dangerous?
Scientists have found that those who often experience boredom are also susceptible to depression and are prone to aggressive behavior, drug addiction, gambling addiction and alcoholism. But the cause-and-effect relationship between these phenomena has not been established. It is unclear whether depression and addictions cause feelings of boredom or vice versa. It was also found that those who constantly complain of boredom are more likely to die young than others. However, it is possible that early deaths are associated with aggressive behavior and addictions, and not directly with boredom.
How to deal with boredom
Boredom is directly related to mind wandering - when people are bored, they become immersed in thoughts, which often makes them feel even more bored. For this reason, we are especially bored of being alone with ourselves and our own thoughts for a long time. Scientists believe that The best way get rid of boredom - focus on some activity. People who are constantly busy are less likely to get bored and are happier on average.
Boredom is the silence of the soul. It discolors life and covers all feelings with frost of indifference and melancholy. Nothing pleases us or interests us. Apathy does not allow you to formulate even some desires. We begin to blame life for its lack of events. We complain and... continue to miss. Why are we bored in life, and what to do if you are consumed by boredom, that’s what we’ll talk about today.
Why are we bored with life?- The main reason for the loss of interest in life is the lack of goals. Not small worries, which are more like trash clogging the mind, but aspirations that allow us to feel the importance of our existence. When we have a purpose, every day becomes meaningful. And thoughts about the frailty of existence do not find their way into our consciousness;
- the second reason is lack of self-confidence. If you believe that nothing in this world depends on you, then you automatically deprive yourself of life priorities. Even if you get bored living with own husband- this only means that you do not trust yourself and the world around you;
- If you don't believe in your strength, then you don't have enough self-love. Agree: it’s never boring with your loved one. Especially if your loved one is yourself.
What to do if you become bored with life?
By making a firm decision to fight boredom, you take the first step towards making your life meaningful again. We offer you.
Good afternoon, dear readers! Probably, each of us at some point has thoughts: life has become boring - what to do? Following this, apathy and reluctance to communicate with people may appear. Let's talk about how to get out of this state.
What leads to a boring life?
Routine, responsibilities and a constant measured lifestyle can cause boredom. But it is worth noting that many, wanting to quickly fill their lives with bright colors, resort to drastic and often rash actions - engaging in extreme sports, or drinking alcohol or even drugs. These are extreme measures from which you should try to abstract yourself.
Few people look for truly useful activities and thus make their life more interesting.
A boring, monotonous life can cause:
- nervous tension and;
- desire to work constantly without breaks for rest;
- overstrain as a result of constant active work of the brain;
- aggression and irritability;
- addiction to tobacco and alcohol, other bad habits;
- lack of ability to concentrate.
I will name 3 main reasons that stimulate boredom:
- Deceptive stability. Many people don't change anything for years own life, not wanting to part with the sense of stability that they impose on themselves. In the minds of such people, any change can destroy their usual way of life.
- Laziness is the most common cause of boredom. It is the reluctance to act, do something and change your life that leads to boredom. It is easier for a person to do nothing and constantly be where he is.
- Lack of self-confidence. The reluctance to concentrate the attention of others on themselves, the fear of criticism and gossip force many to lead a routine, monotonous lifestyle.
How to deal with a boring life?
If life has become boring, you feel that the same thing is happening to you every day, you need to immediately start fighting it. The sooner you start taking specific measures, the more effective they will be.
So, I offer 8 methods available to everyone to paint their life with bright colors:
1. Look inside your personality
Think about what is truly interesting to you, what brings you joy and pleasure. Someone suddenly discovers the ability to draw or the talent of a poet, someone realizes that all their life they have wanted to write music. And maybe this person will not become a great composer, but he will share his creations with others.2. Get out of your “comfort zone”
The so-called habitual way of life. Try to do what you have long wanted to do, but were afraid to try for some reason. Think that even in the event of a complete failure, nothing critical will happen, and you can always return to routine.
3. Set yourself a goal
Life is going. This day will never happen again. Think about your deepest dream and set a goal to achieve it. Motivation is your salvation from boredom. She is able to breathe life and fill every day with meaning. Don't forget that achieving this goal depends on your actions and actions. Good practice is . There you can write down the steps leading to achieving the desired result. As a rule, the more detailed your plan is, the faster it will come to life.
4. Rest and work in moderation
Boredom can be the result of being overtired from work or school. Analyze how you spend your time, whether everything is in balance. Maybe you work too much, sparing time and money for an interesting type of recreation. Or you rest too often and try to devote as little time to work as possible. A detailed analysis will provide clues to solving this problem.
5. Add variety to your routine
For example, if you are used to cleaning on weekend mornings, move this activity to some other day of the week, thereby freeing up a day not busy with work for interesting entertainment. Or you can change your usual route to work by choosing a path less familiar to you or not known at all. Along the way you will be able to see something new or just add some variety to your walk.
6. Choose live communication rather than virtual
Many people prefer to communicate with friends and acquaintances via the Internet. But this option can make you feel isolated. Nothing can replace live communication.
7. Play sports
They are useful not only for the physical condition of the body, they also stimulate active processes in the brain: thoughts become more fruitful and ideas more unexpected. It's not just about going to the gym, but also about jogging and what you can do just by going out into the yard. Hiking, playing football, volleyball or tennis - everyone chooses what is more interesting and closer to them.
As a rule, the cause of the problem is much more visible from the outside than from the inside. They may be able to tell you at what stage in your life your tendency towards boredom developed. Thanks to an objective, fresh perspective, you can overcome boredom faster.
How to prevent the development of boredom?
To prevent life from being monotonous and boring, it is enough to:
- do what you really like;
- maintain connections with relatives and friends - people who need you;
- do physical exercise the norm is a pledge good health and clear thoughts;
- choose proper nutrition: fruits, vegetables and nuts significantly improve brain activity;
- focus on achieving your goals.
Remember, your life is in your hands. And how you spend today determines your mood for tomorrow. Choose the optimal pace of life for yourself and boldly follow it.
Goodbye, dear readers! Be attentive to yourself, live an interesting and rich life. See you again for new conversations!
When a person with fresh energy embarks on a new project, passion, or takes up some kind of hobby, he feels inspired, he is happy, and feels an unprecedented uplift.
But it also happens that a moment comes when, for some reason, emotions begin to dull, the sense of novelty disappears, passion disappears, and His Majesty the muse no longer visits. A person understands that he is very bored, but he does not find the true reasons for this state, and even more so does not know what to do about it.
So, what to do when a period of disappointment, apathy sets in, when life is boring, when everything around is dull and insipid? Let's give a series useful recommendations. They will help you cope with depression, life will sparkle with bright colors again, incentive will appear and new horizons will open.
Causes of boredom and apathy
Before giving advice on how to regain enthusiasm, it is worth finding out the reasons why it disappeared.
- Monotony. When yesterday is similar to today, when everything resembles the movie “Groundhog Day” and nothing is of interest.
- No goal. Yes she was. For example, pass a test, save up for a new phone, find interesting job, other. But now all the wishes have come true and it is not clear what to do next. It seemed like just yesterday there was a spiritual impulse, but today there are no ideas, no desire, no desire to do anything, to move on.
- Lots of free time. This happens when a person first studied, worked part-time at the same time, and also had to find time for his personal life. My whole life was planned out several months in advance.
But time has passed - school is over, personal life has improved, or it doesn’t exist at all, and work is not interesting and routine. So the enthusiasm disappeared. Everything became somehow boring, tedious, even what brought joy ceased positive emotions earlier.
These are the main sources for which a person can frankly admit to himself - I’ve become bored with life! But everything can be solved, follow simple and simple rules, and you won’t be bored anymore.
So, we’ve figured out the reasons, now we’re trying to fill our free time, lift our spirits and answer the most pressing question - I’m bored with my life, what should I do?
Let's start a personal diary
But it’s not easy to describe in it the events that happened during the day, but we try to highlight every day all the good things that happened to you. For example, they invited you to visit, invited you on a date, raised your salary, etc.
At the end of the day, try to analyze pleasant events and look for them positive points, understanding that life does not stand still, that it cannot be boring and dreary when there are so many new and interesting things around, look for it, and do not focus on one thing. This is enough effective method regain enthusiasm and take a step towards new horizons.
Let's start traveling
If you are still sad, then the best way to forget about melancholy is travel. You don’t have to go far, you can go for a walk in the forest, go out of town, to a friend’s dacha, take a train ride, or go on an excursion to another city on the weekend.
People who will meet along the way, new places, will bring a feeling of novelty. If you wish, you can invite friends with you, they will brighten up moments of loneliness, they will be able to cheer you up and will not let you get bogged down in the whirlpool of your own negative emotions. Create vivid memories for yourself and passion for something new will take out any apathy and depression.
Ending relationships that have outlived their usefulness
Quite often, the reason for the lack of enthusiasm can be a protracted relationship with a partner. When a guy or girl hasn’t brought anything into your life, a person causes irritation or there are no emotions at all, you should get rid of the ballast or take a break.
If you become bored, you need to break up, even under the fear of causing pain. Personal life designed to bring joy, not frustration.
After all, when there is a burning inside, when there is a serious passion, only then does that same spark appear that gives an incentive to live and rejoice, enthusiasm appears.
New acquaintances
Sometimes it happens that the influence of friends fades away and you become bored with them. Perhaps no one is to blame for this. They just stopped giving a feeling of novelty. Therefore, it is necessary to look for a new circle of acquaintances and friends.
Sign up for a gym, you will definitely find a couple of enthusiasts there with overflowing energy. It is important that there is an opportunity to learn something new from a new circle of friends, so that an inspiring idea appears on how to change and return the taste for life.
Be yourself
Quite often, the suggestion and strong energy of other people involuntarily forces a person to imitate others, especially for young people. Guys are incredibly impressionable, often do not have their own opinions, and their will is easy to suppress.
So they try to imitate others, while losing their individuality. Therefore, it is necessary to learn to be yourself, not to think about what others will say, because it is not interesting not to be someone when you yourself are an individual.
People are characterized by depression, loss of enthusiasm, when they cannot express themselves and hide their Self deep inside. Laugh, listen to loud music, do rash things, dress up brightly and then inspiration will certainly come, followed by the desire to be yourself.
Ask for help
Don’t be ashamed of your emotions and be afraid to tell them that you have lost your taste for life, that you are not interested in anything.
Share this with loved ones, with friends, share the burden of your experiences and then, perhaps, people will help, give valuable advice, they will invite you to a cool party, or they will simply start giving you ideas that never occurred to you. If you are unhappy, you shouldn’t keep everything to yourself; sometimes pouring out your soul is very important.
Let's get rid of negativity
We stop bullying ourselves, envying ourselves, reacting to any trifle, for example, the bus was late, the guy or girl didn’t send an SMS, we got a bad grade in class, the boss yelled, etc.
Involving yourself in negative dialogue will not only lead to a loss of enthusiasm, but also to deeper depression. Look at everything easily, overcome difficulties whenever possible.
New hobby
What to do when your enthusiasm is gone? Take a break and start a new hobby. This could be anything from knitting to going to the shooting range.
Boredom and lack of joy in life – depression, overwork or nervous stress. The best way to deal with this in this case is the environment. Go on a trip or vacation, see a psychologist, change your lifestyle or appearance, deal with your problems - depending on the situation, you can find a solution. In any case, if you are bored, you need to do something.
If there is neither depression nor overwork, and the reason for boredom is that Life is going along a smoothly knurled path, and you know what awaits you around every turn - it's time to get down to business and add an element of surprise. In order for life to shine with new colors, joy to return, and boredom and monotony to go away, you need to do everything differently than usual, try to find yourself in situations that are not typical for your everyday life.
People are strange creatures. When everything is bad, new problems and troubles arise every day, from which you don’t know where to escape, they dream of stability and peace. When the long-awaited stability and peace come, a person becomes bored.
Where to begin? From the simplest. First of all, remember if you have any goals or ideas that you have neglected in the past, telling yourself: “now is not the time, I will do it in the future.” Perhaps you have always dreamed of skydiving, flying... hot-air balloon, spend a couple of weeks in Paris, play guitar or something else? Surely in the past there was something you loved or that you had to give up. Now the very future has arrived when everything is calm and stable, so it’s time to remember your hobbies and pursue them.
Those people who have hobbies are never bored. If you have no hobbies, then in your free time from work and responsibilities you will be bored, this is normal. Find your hobby - there are so many interesting things in the world. Does everything seem boring too? You need to look back. Often people do not notice the exit, which may simply be located in the next room.
Try to diversify your life. Start taking a different route to work. Look New film. Buy discs with not the most favorite and familiar music, but with a similar genre, but one that you have not listened to before. For a weekend barbecue, go not to your usual place, but to some new place. Order other dishes during your lunch break. Change your hairstyle! Changes in appearance will inevitably entail changes in the internal state.
The most important thing you must remember is that you are living this day for the first and last time. As soon as tomorrow comes, today will turn into yesterday, and no one will be able to return this time spent on boring things and sad thoughts. Pull yourself out of boredom, like Munchausen pulled himself out of the swamp by his pigtail, dare, live and feel!