What to do when you are feeling bored

NEW YORK – Many American adults reported feeling bored during the seemingly endless pandemic lockdowns.

Boredom may also be contributing to the lack of engagement many Americans feel at work now. Some research suggests that teens have been experiencing more boredom recently than they did in the past.

Boredom is no fun, but it can be a source of useful information.

“It arises when we’re doing things that don’t seem engaging or satisfactory, and it pushes us to want to be doing something else,” said Professor Andreas Elpidorou from the department of philosophy at the University of Louisville, who studies emotions and consciousness.

Research suggests that boredom can arise for a handful of reasons, and that figuring out the root cause can help people make better choices in how they spend their time – or at least rejigger their experiences so that they are more rewarding.

Understand the cause

Researcher Erin Westgate at the University of Florida has spent years digging into the various drivers of boredom and found that it arises in a few kinds of situations.

First, people can feel bored when they are in a position where they cannot pay attention, because the task they are doing is either too easy or too hard.

“For you to be able to pay attention and maintain attention on something, you need cognitive demands and cognitive resources to be balanced,” said Dr Westgate.

In other words, the demands of the task need to match what your brain can bring to it.

When what people are doing feels too easy, they often cannot focus and the inattention gives rise to boredom.

This could happen when your child makes you play Candy Land yet again or “when you are at a meeting where your boss discusses the same issue for what seems like the hundredth time and you just tune out”, said Associate Professor Karen Gasper, a psychologist at Pennsylvania State University who studies how feelings influence people’s lives.

People can also feel bored when the thing they are doing feels hard and overwhelming – for instance, when there is a work memo they must write and they are not sure where to start.

Likewise, boredom might happen “when you are watching a movie with a complicated plot, and you are just lost”, Prof Gasper said.

You may also experience boredom when an activity does not feel particularly meaningful. When activities do not align with your goals or values, they often make you feel bored and unfulfilled.

Tweak a hard or easy task

If the task you are doing feels too easy, try something new or challenging if you have the option, Prof Gasper said. Maybe your daily walks are starting to bore you and you should consider hiking or rock climbing instead.

If you have no choice but to continue to do the task, brainstorm ways to add complexity to it.

Prof Elpidorou once interviewed a UPS employee whose job it was to unload and scan boxes all day, but who said he never felt bored because he and his co-workers played games to make the work more challenging.

Playing music can also help, Dr Westgate added, because listening to music “soaks up those extra attentional resources you have, so that you can, paradoxically, focus better on that under-stimulating thing that you’re doing”.

If you are bored because what you are doing is too hard, Dr Westgate suggested breaking up the task into smaller parts so that it feels more manageable. Set a goal of writing just one section of that work memo before lunch.

Look at the big picture

When a required task is not engaging because it does not feel worthwhile, it may help to consider the task’s utility, including how it could help achieve bigger goals, Dr Westgate said.

For instance, if your child does not like mathematics, encourage him or her to think about how maths might serve his or her interests down the line: Could it make the child better at his or her dream job?

Research has shown that this kind of framing helps to keep students engaged and do better in school.

It may also help to think about how a seemingly thankless task serves others or builds community. When you go to the grocery store, Dr Westgate said, you can think of it as a pointless time suck, or you could think about it as a task you do to keep your family healthy and nourished. “Frame it to yourself in ways that matter,” she said.

All this said, if you find yourself consistently bored with what you are doing, it is smart to ponder whether there are ways to avoid those tasks, Dr Westgate said, perhaps through delegation or a career change.

Frequent boredom can also be a sign of depression, she added, so if you find yourself rarely enjoying the activities you do – especially if you used to get joy out of them – you may want to talk to your doctor.

Do not scroll endlessly on your phone

Some research suggests that although people reach for their phones to alleviate boredom, technology may also cause them to feel more bored.

Dr Westgate said she worries that technology may also prevent people from constructively responding to their boredom. “If you’re constantly soothing away those feelings of boredom with something like a phone, instead of engaging with them, I think it’s taking away a really useful signal,” she said.

It may help to keep a mental list of activities you usually find fulfilling that you can turn to when you cannot figure out what you want to do, Prof Elpidorou said. This could include reading, playing an instrument, drawing, knitting or any other kind of hobby.

If your phone allows you to do something you find meaningful, like connecting with a friend or doing a crossword, that is okay too. NYTIMES