Boredom

Many of us have a complicated relationship with boredom. On our busiest days, we crave time to do nothing; but then when we get those sacred moments of silence, we don’t know what to do with them. We may even feel guilty that the moment exists. Rather than fight it off or reach for our devices to fill the void, boredom is something we should embrace. Studies show that those idle moments can enhance our productivity, focus, and creativity.

I decided to take a few minutes to write about a few experiences that have changed my perception of boredom- and how allowing myself to feel “bored” can work to my benefit.

The pandemic certainly taught be to see boredom as a benefit. I spent so much of my life busying myself that has often allowed me not to face some harsh realities, short comings in myself, my environment and how I view specific aspects in my life Quietness’ made me think and really plan, what my life could be if I stopped to focus. It created space for my mind to wander and come up with new ideas. A blog, a website, quotes and how I can use my platform to do more that “execute” but to impact others lives. The book on Autism and how I want to frame my story. The thing I still need to think about is a hobby, yes I like to work out but it feels like a “goal” start and stop vs a real “hobby”. I need to define what hobby means to me and sadly at this point of my life, I can talk about what I “enjoy” but I need a real hobby…caregiver cannot be a hobby. Silence will allow me to focus on what my hobby could be.

Its important to set aside time, we all need to get a boredom moment so at times it requires planning. I often wait until I am at a point of exhaustion before I slow down. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation won’t give me what is needed to be creative. However, I feel guilty or I least I used to feel bad when I was sitting with my feet up trying to ponder my life, yet I watched others seize every” do nothing” moment and “outsourcing” there responsibilities upon me. My advice is that you look to change your work priorities and work ethic over time. Make sure you do the things you wish to do earlier and allow boredom to be something you embrace. If I could go back in time the people I embraced in my life, or things of importance, I focused on would have been a different outcome. Take time for boredom and peace!