How to spend your time to avoid boredom

Mindfulness

By Chris Peacock / 12 years ago

This is a topic that most of us deal with at some point and time. Personally I have heard it phrased differently and said in many others. An active mind, it should be difficult to bore, but it does seem to happen from time-to-time. Often times it just takes practice and the ability to refocus. Some of these techniques are similar to those mentioned in “Taming the monkey mind.”  Other techniques also have these similarities as well.

Actively being bored is not a very productive activity for people to me involved in. This is different from being activity “inactive”, or being contemplative. Being bored is not being productive in some fashion and this is not something beneficial in any manner and actively defeatist. The mind will seem to focus just on that it is bored, and thus defeating any potential gained benefits that may be achieved by its inactivity.

There are many ways to limit this problem. To learn to accept things as they are, or simply to just to accept the mental lull time and relax or contemplate things as they are. Many find this is a perfect time to relax mentally or in some way do meditative exercise. If there is nothing pressing in terms of deadlines or task that need to be done, this can be beneficial to your mental well being. This is an advanced method of dealing with boredom and many find it difficult to achieve this level of introspection.

If mediation is not desired, something similar to mediation can be done. If you decide on a more introspective course of action the process is very similar to that above. The more meditative and contemplated mental choice also takes practice. This mental break would entail something like glancing around and letting your thoughts wander and allow random thoughts to occur.  This mental break sometimes ends when these random thoughts become focused in some way and this without realizing it you are suddenly actively engaged in this activity.

Regardless of the type of individual you happen to be there are ways to deal with boredom when occurs. First I have always felt that stopping all activity and clearing the mind are crucial. Pause and take a few deep breaths to clam and center you mind and thought processes. The make a mental decision on how you want to proceed form this point forward. This is for any decisions made, from increased meditation or mental relaxation to actively contemplating what to do next.

If you are someone who needs to look at things practically and feel always being active is necessary there are other mental tricks that can be applied. If you feel as if you are “becoming bored,” the check list method can be used.  Stated simply this is running though the course of events of the day and what has been achieved. This can be a good way to decide what needs to be done next. Thus, deciding on what your next course of action should be. This can be a terrific way to this decide that has not been done and you can focus on the necessary activities needed.

Regardless on the action you decide to do you will notice that your boredom has been alleviated and part of your day has passed. Then when this has happened there always seem to be things that need to be done at certain times. The activities that always seem to need addressed. Preparation, dress, social, or simply the activated of our days that need done to take care of ourselves physically.

If you think boredom is happing much too often you might consider getting involved in something to enrich your life. It is after all, your choice most of the time what you spend your time doing or thinking about.  These are just some things to consider, it is your responsibility to decide on your best course of action.