Boredom

Boredom is defined as the feeling of being uninterested because of frequent exposure or indulgence by something tedious.  No doubt we have all felt bored many times in our lives.  Doing the same ol’ same ol’ can be dull.  But let’s dig deeper into the sources, feelings, and degrees of boredom.  I think many people use the word boredom when they really mean something else.  Let’s look at what boredom really is and is not.

There can be many sources of boredom.  Students may say that an assignment (or a teacher for that matter) is boring.  When one digs deeper into what exactly that means, it could mean the assignment is too hard or too easy.  It could also mean that they are not interested in the task (or person) at hand and would like something more interesting or fun.  Sometimes learning is loads and loads of fun, but it can’t always be.  Tests are not fun, nor are writing prompts, research papers, or learning multiplication tables.  I would say grammar is not fun, but I absolutely love grammar and have found strategies, games, and videos to make it fun, so I need to say that grammar can be fun. Regardless, sometimes you have to do the ‘boring’ stuff to be able to advance to the more ‘fun’ stuff.  So are students really bored or just uninterested in the task at hand?  I will admit that there are some boring teachers out there, but often the word boring is over- and incorrectly used in the school setting.

Many people who stress-eat say they do it because they are bored.  Digging deeper, that boredom might really be other emotions surfacing, like being anxious, nervous, troubled, stressed, or uneasy.   Can you really say that you have nothing else to do and that is why you must eat?  Perhaps the real source of your ‘boredom’ is that you are dieting, depriving your body of certain foods and having a craving.  You are probably not really ‘bored’, but putting a label on and providing a reason for your overeating can make it easier to accept that you had a reason why you pigged out…you were bored.  The problem is, overeating is rarely from boredom.

As I am currently recuperating from surgery, I think I can confidently say that the time spent recovering from an illness or accident can be a source of boredom.  If you are truly limited in what you can do and find it difficult to fill the hours of the day with activities, then that might be boredom.  When I first got home after knee surgery, I was on so many medications I could not read.  I could see and decode the words, but I did not have the focus needed to get through a newspaper article, no less a book.  I could not drive, limiting going places.  I could not sit for long periods of time, limiting being out of the house at all.  So, what exactly was there to do?  Daytime television?  Hmmm, have you tried that lately?  Since most of my friends work, I found myself home alone trying to find things to do that I could do to fill the time.   I can’t exercise, except for my rehab exercises, which don’t take very long.  I could watch movies, but that gets old and so do the available choices.  Lacking activities one can do is true boredom.  One of my childhood friends, Annie, recently said I was the busiest person she knew.  That is not a compliment or an insult; just an observation.  And I think I do keep myself busy, probably too busy.  I think this contributed to feeling the boredom even more when I went from having scheduled activities to do from 6:30 am until 9:00 pm every day, to counting the pills in my pillbox to kill time.

My mother spoke recently of eye surgery she had last year.  She could not see out of her eyes for a good week.  When I think I had it bad, I think of her.  She couldn’t even watch the crappy daytime TV or movies!  She couldn’t even look at magazine pictures.  That is true boredom; having nothing you can do.  And by the way, she did not eat when she was bored; reinforcing the fact that rarely do people eat because they are truly bored. 

So what feelings do we generally associate with boredom?  Some that come to mind include lethargic, depressed, non-motivated, tired, and ambivalent.  I am sure you could add to the list.  It is important to remember the true cause of the boredom and not to let yourself get swept away in feelings that can take you under.  Try to find activities that you can do, get involved, call a friend, and ask for help.

In the story of the three little bears, there are degrees of hard chairs, hot porridge, and soft beds.  Likewise, there are degrees of boredom we can experience.  It is not good to have too much or too little boredom in your life, but just the right amount.  That may sound strange, but looking at my situation, I think I have to agree with lots of my friends who tell me I do too much.  I am over-scheduled.  I need to slow down.  Prior to my surgery I had too little boredom in my life.  Translation is that I didn’t have enough time to sit back and say, “So what should I do today?  I have absolutely nothing on the schedule.” We have heard that having balance of most things in life is a good goal, so this should come as no surprise that having the right amount of free and scheduled time in our day/week will result in the right amount of ‘boredom’.

So here I find my self at a crossroad on Route 55, which is really just my age.  I recognize and acknowledge my habit of over scheduling in contrast to my current situation of boredom.  I know I need to shed some of the activities I was involved with.  Even though I will find that hard to do, I will get the help needed to manage a more balanced lifestyle.  It is okay to be bored once in awhile.  Just be sure that when you use the word bored, you really mean bored.  Otherwise you may be masking what is really going on in your life.

Bored?  Tired?  Sad?  Depressed?  Sick?  Ambivalent?