The feeling of boredom is so commonly felt among all the generations that it might sometimes be impossible to shrug off. People are bored of people, places, things, and life in general. This has become even more rampant during the pandemic era. Of course, people are not motivated to work or study all the time. But, in a world so vivid, with so little time for so much work to do, isn’t it strange if you are bored of everything and at all times?
To begin with, let us first understand what are some of the reasons why everything might seem boring:
Mental or emotional state
One of the main reasons why everything might seem boring is because your mind is not in a healthy state. This is one common reason why everything starts to feel gloomy and dull. One feels like lazing around and doing nothing at all. Emotions like stress, anxiety, or depression might even make enjoyable and fun activities like playing, dancing, or watching movies tedious. Gradually one’s taste in them starts fading away substantially.
This might also get reflected in your daily routine. This is to say that the food might taste bland, the weather might feel gloomy, nights might be sleepless and everything starts to turn boring.
Lack of motivation
Related to the previous reason, when someone is not in the right frame of mind, he or she starts losing motivation which pushes someone to accomplish their targets. Additionally, people might also feel boring since the essence and pleasure of doing a task get lost.
Lack of proper self-care
While being extremely self-centric might be toxic, it is equally important to love yourself and take care of your mind and body. Once you stop prioritizing your mental as well as physical health, everything might seem boring.
Taking a balanced diet, meditating, taking proper sleep, and drinking lots of water would not only help maintain a healthy body but would also have an impact on your outlook towards life. And after all, “A healthy mind lives in a healthy body”
Home-bound like forever
It is rightly said that “Humans are social animals”. We cannot live in an isolated space, aloof of the world and avoiding our social routine. During this pandemic, when people were in lock-down and got ‘stuck’ at some corner of the world, some pursued the passion that they always wanted to and the rest simply cribbed about everything. While the former lot found new happiness, the latter stopped doing the things they otherwise enjoyed and eventually found everything boring.
While it will be stupid if one goes around traveling the world at such pandemics, you also need to find happiness and fun even with the smallest of moments.
Losing track of (life) events
Sometimes everything might be boring when you are ‘not in the zone’ and lose concentration in the task that you are involved in. For someone to rightly concentrate on their task, the level of skills required to complete it becomes important. This is to say that too easy tasks or too difficult or unachievable tasks might drain someone internally. The optimum level can be achieved only when you are deeply and seriously involved in it.
Not paying enough attention
This theory can be attached to the psychological condition called ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)’. People who suffer from this medical condition are unable to control themselves, pay attention and sit still in a single place. They wander from place to place, task to task, and eventually fail to pay attention to something wholeheartedly.
Contrarily, when everything seems boring, we fail to pay attention. As a result, we half-heartedly and forcibly engage in our routine with our wandering attention. If this situation prevails for a prolonged period of time and gets uncontrollable, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
You are Boring
Finally coming to the quote with which this article began. Perhaps the most important thing as to why everything might feel boring is because you have turned into a different, less interesting, and ‘boring’ version of yourself.
Caught up in our mundane routine, when one stops trying to explore newness and interesting things in their life, it is only obvious that they will get bored of ‘eating-sleeping-repeating’. Perhaps start turning your ‘No’ into ‘Yes’ and ‘What if’ into an ‘Ooops’ and you might end up enjoying some of the best days of your life.
How not to be Bored?
To begin with, figure out the main cause of your boredom. See if it matches with any of the points mentioned above. Once you do it, it will be easy to tackle it since different reasons should be addressed differently.
However, given below are some ways one can entertain themselves and lead a healthy and interesting life:
Try doing something challenging. It might be something as simple as baking a perfect cheesecake for some or bungee jumping for others. But surely keep trying to do something new. The moment boredom creeps in, switch to the exact opposite of what you have been doing. For instance, when you start feeling bored while reading a book, immediately stop and go out. If you still keep reading, your boredom will keep on increasing. Rest. Perhaps everything is boring because your mind and body are deprived of proper rest. When overworked, the mind gets fatigued and stressed, turning everything sadder and gloomier. Find a hobby. Pursue it if you continue enjoying it and leave if it bores you. Don’t just try doing it just because you ‘thought’ it would be fun but later turns out the opposite in reality. Chart out a workout routine. Meditate. Shift your workstation to a new location. Stop spending less time alone and more time with friends and family. Solitude might sometimes be bliss, but it also has a bad rap. Take adequate sleep and water. Go to bed early and rise early. Sometimes, anxiety, stress, or depression might result in the boringness of everything. Consult a counselor if the condition gets uncontrollable since it signals an unhealthy state of mind.
Finally, Stop complaining and start living. The more you complain about how boring everything is, the more deeply it gets ingrained into your mind and the more you start getting bored. Remember, boredom is a phase, it is not meant to be there in life permanently.
Q1: Is it normal to feel boring all the time?
Ans: while it is extremely normal to feel boring and everyone feels so, make sure it does not get chronic.
Q2: Can you die of boredom?
Ans: There is no reported case of direct death out of boredom. Its chronic impacts may however drain one from within and have serious consequences, including a reduction in life expectancy.
Q3: Is boredom a sign of depression?
Ans: May or May not be. To find this out, check for other symptoms apart from severe boredom, including behavioral, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial symptoms like self-harm, weight gain or loss, memory difficulties, helplessness, etc. And if these symptoms persist for weeks, then consult a psychologist.
