I used to think boredom came from external conditions. Like a lack of activity, an unstimulating environment, or simply nothing to occupy the mind.
And I believed that we should all be “more bored” because we overstimulate ourselves too much1.
But I came across an article about the history of boredom. Turns out boredom is more about how you feel internally than what’s happening externally.
It’s not just about “doing nothing” or “not being busy.” Even with a packed schedule, you can still feel bored if you don’t find the work meaningful to you.
So, I guess the better definition for Boredom is “mental dissatisfaction”.
Your mind craves stimulation, purpose, or engagement but doesn’t find it. And this could happen regardless of whether you’re idle or active.
Boredom, then, is the disconnect between what you’re doing and what you want to be doing.
So it doesn’t make sense to aim to be “more bored.”
The real goal is to escape boredom the right way.
Most of us take the easy way out. The second we feel even a hint of boredom2, we grab our phones, binge videos, or scroll endlessly.
But that’s just a band-aid solution. It gives us a hit of dopamine, but it doesn’t solve the deeper issue (and it actually makes us feel worse)3.
If we allow ourselves to escape boredom the natural way, it could push us to think more deeply, to introspect, and to get creative. It gives us a chance to address the real issue—what we truly want or need.
Therefore, boredom is a signal — a nudge telling you something’s off, that you are not doing something meaningful or fulfilling.
All we have to do is resist shutting off our minds with cheap distractions.
Because if we let them, our minds can work it out on their own.
- Research on Technological Overstimulation and how it affects productivity ↩︎
- Humans hate being bored so much that we rather give ourselves electric shocks than do nothing (link to study) ↩︎
- The buffet of digital entertainment available to us makes us feel even more bored (link to study) ↩︎