B Is For... Boredom

BORED & RESTLESS

Want A Life Of Creative Breakthroughs, Purpose & Meaning? It's Time To Embrace Being Bored

It might feel like hell, but if the science is right, boredom, apathy and listlessness could very well be doorways to creative heaven.

Ah, how nice it feels to achieve something -  anything, in fact. And how frustrating are the days when it feels beyond our reach.

We are just not getting anywhere, what previously enchanted us now irritates us - worse, it bores us stupid. And the panic sets in. Is it time to call it a day?

Well, yes, in a word. But quitting doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, as Veritasium explains in the video, below.

It turns out that when we hit a wall and enter that period of abject misery called apathy or boredom, it is actually a gift in disguise - as long as we resist the urge to distract ourselves from it.

The trick is to let it be, to soak it up to its fullest - and the payoffs are somewhat unexpected:


1. A Boost Of Creativity You Might Not Otherwise Get

According to scientific studies, there could be a direct correlation between the level of boredom you feel (slight, intense, mind-numbing etc) to the corresponding bursts of creativity you can benefit from as a result. The more bored you are, it seems, the better your ideas can get, is the theory.


2. Higher Levels Of Motivation

A key factor that motivates us into changing situations is finding ourselves in ones we don't like, so in this sense boredom tells us when it is time to shake things up. As Veritasium explains:

"Boredom is both a warning that we are not doing what we want to be doing and a push that motivates us to switch goals and projects."

3. Increased Feelings Of Altruism & Purpose

If boredom hits existential crisis-level and you're questioning what you're doing with your life, this, also, has its upside. Studies have found that boredom has utimately lead people towards altruism, which, as Veritisium adds, can put the fire back in your belly:

"The silver lining is that it may trigger you to think about others and what you can do to help them. And that provides an immediate and concrete purpose to a life that might momentarily feel like it's lacking one."

4. Increased Clarity Regarding Goal-Setting

Lastly, one of the most unexpected, and needless to say, ironic, by-products of aimlessness is a a higher level of clarity when it comes to setting goals.

When you start asking yourself what you want to do with your life, you might find yourself in a scenario called Autobiographical Planning, he says, which is "to consider your life as a story and where you want it to go in future."

"In this way, being bored is essential for goal-setting".

So the idea here is, don't worry the next time apathy hits and you start questioning everything. It could actually be a very good thing that you are...

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