Boredom is a fundamental part of being alive. Our lives can’t be 24/7 rollercoasters and parties. And even if it was, we’d get bored with that eventually as well. But what you might not be aware of is how it can be dangerous at times, but also lead to positive outcomes as well.
What Is Boredom?
Although we’ve all experienced boredom, that doesn’t mean that we have a complete understanding of what role feeling bored plays in our lives. In fact, boredom can be surprisingly multi-faceted. So, where to begin? A discussion about its definition is always a good start.
Merriam-Webster provides a no-nonsense simple definition, which is that being bored is a state of being restless and weary through lack of interest. Van Tilburg and Igou (2012) extend this definition by adding that being bored affects us on multiple levels, such as our behaviours, motivations, thoughts, and feelings.
Or, as WebMD describes boredom, it’s an emotion or signal that tells us two things: that what we’re doing lacks meaning to us or that you’re not fully present. This view is also shared by Van Tilburg and Igou (2012). This is often because it’s monotonous or doesn’t provide any satisfaction (Bench and Lench, 2013).
Writing for the British Psychological Society (BPS), Rhodes (2024, January 22) reports that being bored functions as having both a desirable and undesirable consequence, with such outcomes being dependent on the context in which it is experienced. I would also argue that your mindset would be a factor too, such as if you had a positive mindset, a growth mindset, or not.
Van Tilburg and Igou (2012) also argue that being bored works as a self-regulatory function that is distinct from other so-called negative emotions, like frustration, anger, and sadness. This means that boredom plays a unique role in our lives.
Bench and Lench (2013) state that, while bored, our attention to the current task is reduced, leading to the experience of boredom in a negative and aversive way. However, they also acknowledge that being bored increases the need to pursue alternatives. This is also supported by Van Tilburg and Igou (2012), whose study found bored people will want to engage in behaviours that offer some form of purpose.
Interestingly, the article by Rhodes (2024, January 22) supports this as well. They reported on how being bored can lead to us rethinking what we’re doing in favour of new actions that provide some sort of meaning. Although this can sometimes be for better or worse. Both of which will be discussed in this article.
What Makes Boredom Problematic
Being bored, while a common experience, can become problematic when it’s chronic or disrupts your daily life. Here’s why boredom can be an issue:
Lack of engagement
When you’re bored, it’s difficult to feel motivated or engaged in tasks, leading to procrastination and decreased productivity. When it comes to dull tasks that need to be done, the experience of being bored can be unhelpful (Rhodes, 2024, January 22). No one else is going to do your housework for you.
Difficulty focusing
Boredom can make it hard to concentrate on work, studies, or even leisure activities, hindering your ability to complete tasks effectively. Therefore, being bored can lead to poor performance at work (Yusoufzai, Nederkoorn, Lobbestael, and Vancleef, 2024).
Increased stress and anxiety
Chronic boredom can lead to feelings of restlessness, frustration, and even anxiety. The lack of stimulation can trigger a stress response in the body.
Depression and low mood
Persistent boredom can contribute to feelings of hopelessness and low mood. The sense of not having anything interesting to do can lead to a general feeling of emptiness. Furthermore, it can lead to us experiencing unwanted intrusive thoughts.
Risky behaviours
In an attempt to escape boredom, some people turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, like excessive screen time, substance abuse, or risky activities. A study by Biolcati, Passini, and Mancini (2016) demonstrated that boredom proneness frequently leads to binge drinking in young adults. Leung (2008) also found a strong connection between boredom and smartphone use to provide stimulation. Doomscrolling to alleviate feelings of being bored is just too easy.
A study by Yusoufzai, Nederkoorn, Lobbestael, and Vancleef (2024) built upon previous work on the effects of being bored. This work showed that boredom leads to increased self-administration of painful electric stimulation. However, such work didn’t always provide an alternative to causing harm to manage the feelings of being bored.
Thus, the study by Yusoufzai, Nederkoorn, Lobbestael, and Vancleef (2024) added an extra variable. They included a self-administered positive behavioural alternative to accompany the aversive self-administering stimuli. The results supported the previous studies on boredom, finding that despite a positive alternative, the bored participants chose the aversive stimuli more.
Mindless snacking
In much the same way as eating because you’re depressed, people will also eat out of boredom. Eating causes us to experience pleasure, but unfortunately, unhealthy food choices are often the most pleasure-inducing.
Strained relationships
Feeling bored can make you less patient and irritable, impacting your interactions with friends, family, and colleagues. It’s an unpleasant state that we can struggle to manage, which can lead to reduced patients and being irritable.
Social withdrawal
If boring activities become the norm, you might withdraw from social interactions and isolate yourself, further worsening your mood. It can also lead to internalising the sense of boredom, where you might start believing that you’re boring. Creating a negative core belief.
Stagnant mindset
Being bored limits your exposure to new ideas and challenges, hindering creativity and problem-solving skills.
Difficulty learning
When you’re bored, it’s hard to retain information or learn new things. This means that boredom can make it difficult to study (Yusoufzai, Nederkoorn, Lobbestael, and Vancleef, 2024).
The Potential Upside Of Boredom
According to Van Tilburg and Igou (2012), boredom plays a role in wanting to resolve the feeling by finding something challenging or that has meaning. This is echoed in the article by Rhodes (2024, January 22). They report that boredom helps us seek more valuable things to do with our time, which can lead to important changes in behaviour and reduce monotony.
Bench and Lench (2013) also found that boredom can motivate us to create new goals when our current ones are no longer beneficial. They also state that being bored can lead to opportunities to attain social, cognitive, and emotional stimulation. Or, put another way, boredom plays a role in us being social creatures.
Summary
Boredom can lead to several outcomes, depending on the context (Rhodes, 2024, January 22). We have no choice but to finish the boring task. We seek out stimulation to replace the boredom that might be harmful, or we channel that boredom into something useful or, at the very least, neutral.
Therefore, seeking out meaning and purpose, when appropriate, can lead to engagement in more meaningful tasks (Van Tilburg and Igou, 2012). It can also help us strive to take on new challenges, such as pursuing new goals (Bench and Lench, 2013). This is why hobbies can also be important and trying new things.
Boredom doesn’t have to control you. By understanding its impact and identifying activities you enjoy, you can combat boredom and live a more fulfilling life.
As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with boredom in the comments section below as well. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, you can sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, click the red bell icon in the bottom right corner to get push notifications for new articles.
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References
Bench, S. W., & Lench, H. C. (2013). On the function of boredom. Behavioral sciences, 3(3), 459-472. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/3/3/459.
Biolcati, R., Passini, S., & Mancini, G. (2016). “I cannot stand the boredom.” Binge drinking expectancies in adolescence. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 3, 70-76. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853216300116.
Leung, L. (2008). Leisure boredom, sensation seeking, self-esteem, and addiction: Symptoms and patterns of cell phone use. In Mediated Interpersonal Communication (pp. 373-396). Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elly-Konijn/publication/228388948_Leisure_Boredom_Sensation_Seeking_Self-esteem_Addiction_Symptoms_and_Patterns_of_Mobile_Phone_Use/links/09e4151011483ca9a3000000/Leisure-Boredom-Sensation-Seeking-Self-esteem-Addiction-Symptoms-and-Patterns-of-Mobile-Phone-Use.pdf.
Rhodes, E. (2024, January 22). Emotion, Work and Occupational: The exciting side of boredom. BPS. Retrieved from https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/exciting-side-boredom.
Van Tilburg, W. A., & Igou, E. R. (2012). On boredom: Lack of challenge and meaning as distinct boredom experiences. Motivation and Emotion, 36, 181-194. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9234-9 and https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/46614292/Van_Tilburg_Igou_2012_MotEmo.pdf.
Yusoufzai, M. K., Nederkoorn, C., Lobbestael, J., & Vancleef, L. (2024). Sounds boring: the causal effect of boredom on self-administration of aversive stimuli in the presence of a positive alternative. Motivation and Emotion, 1-15. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-023-10053-y.
I tend to overthink when I’m bored, so I like to be busy. Although we all need to take time to rest and relax, it’s nice to have a task to focus my mind. Thank you for sharing this informative article
It’s hard to relax when we also need to feel busy, especially if you’re trying to avoid unpleasant thoughts. Thanks for sharing
So true… boredom sucks. It’s bad for your mental and physical health. It’s important to have hobbies, learn new skills, and socialise sometimes. Most important have the courage to move out of your comfort zone always.
Exactly. Thanks for commenting
Great post. So often overlooked as a trivial issue but as you highlighted can indeed lead to problematic / risky behaviours). But understanding the roots causes and being able to address them will make all the difference.
Thanks for commenting
Boredom can definitely lead to risky behaviors, so it’s vital to find ways to combat it in a positive way. Personally, I find that starting new projects and doing things that make me happy, ike writing on my blog, reading, watching movies, or listening to my favorite tunes helps me stay engaged and fulfilled. It’s all about finding what works best for you to keep boredom at bay and maintain a positive mindset.
It’s all about those little sources of joy. Thanks for commenting
Someone famous said that boredom leads to discovery.
I guess the real question is if that discovery is always healthy or not. Thanks for sharing
Very interesting article as always. I often feel as if I am getting bored, and for me it is about self-awareness. I now combat it with books, music or something that will lead to a distraction. I found, as you commented on doom-scrolling, that I was looking at my phone too much and decided to delete some of the apps, definitely Instagram which I did not engage with but scrolled through. Twitter, while also easy to mindlessly scroll, often has some toxic opinion about something that will awaken my soul and make me laugh. Now I use, as you say, boredom to be a good indicator that what I am doing needs shaking up a bit.
I’m glad you’ve been able to identify areas in your life that need shaking up and other ways to lessen feelings of boredom. Thanks for sharing