There are oodles of activities a person can engage in when they are bored. Often times it is out of our laziness that we stay in our boredom. We can also get stuck in the trap of boredom when we are uncomfortable dealing with our thoughts and our feelings. I once had a co-worker who would say “If you are bored, it must be because you are boring”. I like that saying as it demonstrates that boredom is truly a choice.
Choices
One of the things that I talk about a lot concerns making choices. Every single day we have the opportunity to make many choices. It starts in the morning and continues on throughout the day, all the way until we put our heads on our pillows. The interesting thing is that we aren’t usually even aware that we are making choices. Often many of our choices are done subconsciously, and more often than not, they stem out of habit. It is easy to fall into traps of complacency, laziness, and even boredom.
Dangers of Being Bored
Boredom puts us at an increased risk of the following:
* depression
* anxiety
* drug abuse/addiction
* alcohol abuse/alcoholism
* compulsive gambling
* eating disorders
* hostility/aggression
* feelings of anger
* poor social skills
* low work performance
* poor academic performance
* obsessive compulsive tendencies
* risk taking behavior
* compulsive acting out behaviors
* relapse if you are in recovery
What do you do when you are experiencing boredom? Do you make a choice and engage in an activity that is healthy? Or do you engage in something that will do you more harm than good?
Working with women in recovery for over a decade I was able to observe the dangers of boredom. When we are bored we are more likely to eat poorly and neglect being physically active. Often we will suppress our feelings (anger/hurt/frustration/disappointment) and will get buried in our stress. When we are in the trap of boredom we are not engaging in self-care nor are we being active in our stress management. Boredom can also lead us into using and abusing drugs, alcohol and smoking cigarettes.
Signs of Boredom
The following is a list of some signs of boredom:
* feeling of emptiness
* feelings of apathy
* being very tired — fatigued
* feeling jittery and nervous
* having a short attention span
* difficulty in focusing
* lack of interest in your surroundings and/or the people around you
Causes of Boredom
There are various causes of boredom and they can vary from individual to individual. The following are some of the causes:
* lack of choice or control over your daily activities
* lack of sleep
* poor nutrition
* poor perception of time
* not enough recreational interests
* loss of interest in the activity you are engaged in
* fear — of failure/of making a mistake
* insecurity
* low levels of mental stimulation
* lack of money
* repetition of the same activity for too long
* depression — Author’s note ~ if you are struggling with depression please seek medical advice and assistance. Examples of this may be: feeling extreme sadness, feeling hopeless, suicidal ideation, and self blame/hate for your boredom.
Taking Action When You Are Bored
The solution to boredom is “you”. Making a choice to take action is the best starting point. It is our responsibility to get ourselves out of the trap of boredom. We can not wait for others to come and entertain us. I have compiled a list of 98 activities that you can do when you are bored. There were probably many more that I missed. Take a risk and try something that you have never done before, invite a friend to join you. You just might find a new hobby, or activity that you can enjoy for years to come.
So don’t tell me that you have nothing to do. Remember — boredom is a choice.
What is your favorite activity to do when you are experiencing feelings of boredom?
What new activity are you willing to take a risk and try?
Leave me a comment as I would love to hear from you.
Blessings 💞💞💞
This is a great list to have on hand!
Blessings 💞
Very informative. It’s actually very difficult to find activities on boredom. Liked it.
Great article and great ideas.
I love this post! Pinning and tweeting getting ready to happen…Keep on writing, sister!
Thank you for your encouragement. Blessings.
Great story. I am going to print it off for my kids in the summer!
I love having all of this great info and the great tips – I will definitely be trying some of your ideas!
Fabulous. Blessings to you
A great post!! I struggle with boredom and do find if I have thought ahead of things to do.. I can avoid the depression. Thanks for the reminder!
Blessings to you.
This is a wonderfully diverse list and I love that so many of the activities include physical exercise!
It’s important for our mental health to be physical. Blessings.
Wow! What a thorough list of ideas, Shelley! You’ve give me a lot of ways to kick boredom to the curb this summer! I’m pinning this one for sure!
Hope you have an amazing summer filled with fun activities. Blessings
Hope you have an amazing summer full of fun activities. Blessings
I had no idea so many things could actually cause boredom (i.e. lack of control over your daily activities). I enjoy my summers for that reason alone. It give me more of a chance to explore so many things that I do not get the time to really enjoy otherwise. Thanks for this share. Pinning! #BlessingBloggers
Enjoy your summer and all your activities. Blessings
You too!