You’re not simply bored – can we start there? It’s a jump in with both feet, but when you feel as though boredom is a consistent theme in your life, there are usually much deeper things at play. You want to enjoy life, but your life seems to bounce from one ‘samey’ day to the next.
If you want to see change, you have to invite it in. You see, it is possible to enjoy life again, but only with the realization that you have certain needs that aren’t being met. Knowledge is at the heart of all change, and that’s why you need to understand these 11 things your persistent boredom really means.
Are you ready to unlock this new, better chapter?
1. You are burned out.
Burnout can leave you not wanting to do much, leading to a feeling of boredom. In fact, your energy supplies are depleted from taking on too much and not giving yourself enough physical and emotional space to process any of it.
Burnout will detach you from anything you have going on, because you just won’t have the capacity to know how to deal with it effectively. That’s not your fault, it’s just a sign that you need to rest and find balance so you can unlock a little enjoyment again – eventually!
2. You’re trapped in an understimulated environment.
At times, it can become acutely obvious that you’re growing faster than your environment is. You feel as though your surroundings no longer represent you, and as though you’re stuck in a rut. If this is the case, no wonder you’re bored!
While you feel like you’re changing, you observe the world around you to be seemingly wanting to keep you as you are, and it is no longer stimulating you, not even in the slightest.
Perhaps you’ve literally outgrown your space, or it represents a version of you that you’ve now healed from. Maybe you need to inject some new, challenging hobbies you acquired into the mix. Whatever it may be, if you can make adjustments, your life will improve for the better.
3. You’ve outgrown this chapter in your life.
Imagine you’re reading a book, and you finish a chapter before refusing to turn the page for the next one. You’re sitting there, book in hand, in limbo. What do you do now? Time passes, and you get bored. You would like to know how the book ends, but without that page turn, you’ll never know.
That’s what it feels like to outgrow a chapter of your life without investing in the next one, even with one small move toward it. Boredom will strike, and it will leave you feeling like there’s no direction to go in…
…but there is. And I can (almost) guarantee if you take the plunge and turn that page, you’ll be thankful you made that move.
4. You’re avoiding something.
I’m not here to ask you what that thing is, but I am here to remind you that avoidance is only a temporary relief from knowing you need to address something. It’s not comfortable, and I get that. But there’s a chance you might be bored because you know that the next step is challenging, and you’d rather not take it at all.
Just know that it won’t go away until you make a move, and I am sure you’ll enjoy what comes on the other side once you finally do.
5. You are fantasizing about change without taking action.
According to research by the London School of Economics and Political Science, fantasizing can steal your energy, leaving you feeling lethargic and bored. Who’d have thought that thinking about an ideal life would be so draining, but I guess it stems from not actually putting the work in to make it real and having your energy go somewhere tangible.
That’s where you need to be right now, because at least then you’re moving in the right direction. Thought alone won’t do that. It’ll only increase your boredom and lethargy further.
6. Your skills or talents aren’t being put to good use.
What is it that you’re truly good at? In your answer, you can say anything you want to, whether you feel it’s significant or not.
Whatever they are, if they’re not being put to good use, then you’re going to feel bored. A part of you wants to come alive and create or express; it’s asking why you are instead sitting down eating Reece’s Pieces and watching Dawson’s Creek reruns. (That’s okay to do, by the way, as long as you make time for those talents).
7. You need a signpost to help get you moving.
I get it. You’re lying on the couch day in and day out, you’re bored, and it feels like all the joy has been sucked out of life. You might not need anything extreme to happen at all; this may just be a case of needing that initial signpost – the catalyst – to get you moving again.
At times like this (and I’ve been there), I explore my home. I make a list of small yet manageable improvements I can make to each room, and I pick one, with the emphasis being on one. Don’t overload yourself. You’ll really notice an improvement, as high levels of boredom are replaced with increasing levels of enjoyment.
8. You are lacking real world connection.
Where are all your peeps? Family, friends, whoever they may be, and there doesn’t even have to be many of them. I am a fan of quality over quantity, but with very few exceptions, we all need a real-world connection.
In fact, psychologists liken connecting with others to hunger or thirst – it’s that fundamental.
Without it, yes, boredom will hurtle into your life, and you’ll feel it strongly until you learn to reach out and connect with people. You never know – those connections might lead to plans, and those plans to memories you’ll never forget. It’s always worth doing that for a fully enriched life.
9. Your purpose seems to have gotten lost.
So many people, for whatever reason, don’t meet and familiarize themselves with their true purpose in life. It’s not because we as humans are lazy, but rather because we don’t give ourselves permission to explore what that purpose could be.
Yours might be lost, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find it. Spend some time filling your boredom with self-exploratory ways to dig out what matters to you, and remember, you don’t need grandness, you just need patience, and three all-important questions:
- What issues that concern me do I want to solve the most?
- What am I good at?
- What do I love to do?
If you can go through these and find the answers, then you’re on your way to getting to know yourself a lot better, and these are great foundational questions that can help support the structure of your purpose.
10. You need deeper connections.
All the while we as humans skirt around the big stuff, we’re left with just the frills. Sometimes, that’s okay, but what about what really matters in life? The superficial isn’t for everybody all of the time, and if you’re craving deeper engagements, that might be why you feel so bored.
Maybe a better word to use here would be uninspired. Simply put: if you’re missing out and have become reliant on shallow small talk, perhaps what you’re missing is a real opportunity to find connection through diving deeper where you can do so.
11. You are disconnected from your body.
Although you may not immediately assume this is the case, it still might be, so it’s worth considering. I’ll be as direct as I can: boredom can often be felt when the nervous system gets stuck in freeze-mode.
Your body wants to feel safe, but it only knows numbness. As a result, yes, you can feel like you’re unable to move, and boredom will kick in where stagnation sits.
Instant physical resets are known to help, and can include:
- Splashing freezing water on your face to give you that shock back into the moment.
- Shake it off. Yep – do a Taylor. Arms, legs, feet, hands; shake them all and get that tension out.
It can offer your nervous system a gradual reset, especially if you make these acts a part of your daily routine to kickstart a refreshed mindset and mood.
Final thoughts…
The enjoyment of life can pass us by if we stay bored. The trouble is, boredom isn’t always just, “What can I do today?” It equally derives from, “What am I doing with my life?”
If you want to explore why persistent boredom has become the frontrunner for describing your character, then I’d say re-read these 11 points and decide where you fit into them. You can’t change a behavior until you bring it into awareness. If I had to pick for myself, I’d say point 5, so I guess I’d better get to work…
