We all get excited about projects, put effort into them and see some progress, and then get bored or distracted by something else. We either drop the thing we were partially successful at or spend less time on it to get a sense of excitement, productivity, or usefulness somewhere else. And you know what happens in the new endeavor: the same cycle begins again. 

When to let go and when to push through

There’s nothing wrong with letting things go and trying new avenues. But if the decision is not conscious, the feeling of boredom will continue to control our lives. The fear of boredom keeps us from really diving deeper into one thing that we know will be very meaningful if we can survive the boredom phase. So how can we work through boredom consciously? 

Boredom and lack of productivity

Here are a couple of observations about boredom I’ve found through experimentation, talking with my career coaching clients, and reading. 

• Boredom (defined as a phase or state in which you are not excited about the task at hand) is an essential part of any endeavor. Even people who work on their passion are bored some of the time. So, working through boredom is an essential skill. 
• Boredom’s cousin, the feeling of being unproductive, as if you’re not doing anything useful, is an inherent part of any endeavor. 
  • Sometimes, we chase short term productivity at all costs, which leads to a long term lack of productivity. For example, if we’re feeling unproductive in writing an article, we think we can be productive by at least checking emails. That feeling of productivity in the short run is precisely what kills real productivity in the long run. 
  • Sometimes, we choose to watch a video or browse social media instead of doing deep work. However frivolous they might seem in hindsight, these activities give us a feeling of being productive, because we’re doing something instead of nothing. But we’re not being productive doing the deep work we want to be doing. 

Usual solutions to boredom

Our usual solutions to boredom and lack of productivity seek short term rewards. This might be, as discussed earlier, choosing something else exciting to do like a different project, watching a video, checking messages, browsing social media, or even doing things that don’t need to be done right now in order to avoid the one thing that matters: right now. But these short term rewards don’t help us build long term success. 

How to get over boredom

Here are a couple of ideas to work on boredom and lack of productivity. 

Do that thing or do nothing

Once you determine you want to focus on a specific project for some time, do that thing or do nothing. Pick a short amount of time in the beginning. 25 minutes is plenty if you haven’t done something like this before. If you pick too long a time, it’s likely to lead to failure. Our need to be productive and seek stimulation is very strong. It’s hard to “do nothing” for more than a few minutes at a time in the beginning. We don’t want to use too much willpower right now. It’s a limited resource. In the long run, what will help us are the habits, not the willpower to push through. 

So, 25 minutes to do that thing, or do nothing. Sound good? 

Explore boredom

When we’re bored, we tend to “fix” it by distracting ourselves. We want to do something to get rid of boredom. 

In this second way of working on boredom, I invite you to explore boredom. Get to know your boredom a little bit. Get curious about it. For example: 

• When bored, spend one minute to take a break and do nothing. Notice what boredom feels like in your body, breath, thoughts, and feelings. 
• Regularly spend 5 minutes on this “doing nothing” exercise: sit quietly in a place where you don’t have easy access to stimulations– physical or mental. Sitting in the middle of the living room where you can’t read the titles of the books on the bookshelves is a good place, for example. And then sit there doing nothing. Not trying to think about anything or figure anything out. If you notice yourself engaging with a thought, just come back to “doing nothing.” 

These exercises will help you get to know your boredom and become less fearful of it. Let’s not be fearful of something that can happen at any time, on any day. 

Now, your turn!

Are you willing and ready to overcome the fear of boredom? It only takes one minute to get started. 

Did you come to this article avoiding something? If so, can you spend one minute doing nothing now, instead of going on to the next stimulation or “productive thing”? Let’s do this. I look forward to hearing from you if you have any challenges or accomplishments to share.