Bored to the Boredom
Jun 1, 2018
4 min read
"Ugh theres nothing to watch. There's nothing to do!" I grumbled at the TV while I looked at the room for any kind of search for something funny to pop up, the way I look at my fridge every 10 minutes like a cake would pop up magically.
Do you ever find yourself bored? Searching for something to give you engagement or giving you that euphoria of achievement. For me, it used to be searching on Slickdeals for all the best deals, then it became searching for homes on Realtor. Somehow, I find the net looking for something but not sure what.
It turns out that I'm looking for hedonistic adaptation. A term coined by scientists who state that a person who feels euphoria after one receives a promotion or a new job, tends to fade shortly. So how do we stop this? How can we be happy? According to Gretchen Ruben, who has studied happiness, she found that the number one reason people were happy was due to #novelty and #challenge.
"But often we're happier, we feel more energetic, more productive, more creative when we try something new, when we challenge ourselves a little bit, when we kind of go out of that comfort zone. That atmosphere of growth can really boost our happiness."
I thought about my regular routine. Wake up, head to work, go to yoga, then head home. So easy, and so routine. Rubin discusses how the idea of seeking a challenge or change may feel uncomfortable but generally, the happiness will pay off when it turns into a challenge.
So what does novelty mean? Rubin defines it as something you do out of the ordinary. Find the routine and change it. In a recent study, Feb 2017 at the University of College London study, humans are ultimately #lazy and look for the path of least resistance. For example, instead of working hard for the promotion, a person will convince themselves to get another job then sticking with their current job.
However, the caveat was that a small portion of the participants realized the extra effort and utilized their awareness to make the change.
I thought about my daily routine and made an effort last week to change it up. I went to another, late yoga class instead of my usual one to see if #happiness could be paid off. The drawback would be getting home late but the change of routine was nevertheless interesting. It's a Wednesday night, and I was excited.
After the dripping sweat yoga, I did get my yoga high but was able to feel the buzzing excitement as I drove home. Ok maybe it was a great instructor but there must be something to be said about changing routine.
The awareness tied to the change in my regular routine ultimately became my happiness. There was challenge certainly, and novelty with a new instructor. The good #news was the hedonistic adaptation declined. Yoga became more than a dull routine but a lighting of cortex-brain inducing strength.
"People who stray from their routines, try new things, explore, and experiment tend to be happier than those who don’t. "
Upon reflection, here are some tips to help you move out of your funk and towards happiness.
1) Make a list of the things you have always wanted to do. Example: learn a language for free here: https://www.duolingo.com , take a computer class, take a cooking class, write a book, start a blog 😉. Then start one of them. Schedule it in your weekly routine.
2) Open that #journal and do a free steam of conscious writing; even if the sentences run together; even if nothing makes sense; even if it's only on one emotion; the power of your brain contains over 50,000- 70,000 thoughts per day on average; throw them into your journal. Time it for 5 minutes and if you go over, keep going. Go to the Self Care Shop and get a journal.
3) Find one thing in your weekly routine to change like a new restaurant to try; go to a library after work.
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