Although
boredom is a modern luxury, it is a universal experience and one of emotional
states of being. According to the
research by James
Danckert (Experimental Brain Research, 2013) the word “boring” was not even
being used until the industrial revolution.
So what exactly is boredom and why does it
have significance? Boredom is best
described in terms of attention. A bored
person doesn’t just have anything to do.
He/she wants to be stimulated, but is not able to because there is no emotional/cognitive
connection to his/her environment for that to happen.
Most often we have heard that
boredom in the workplace and otherwise could have negative effects such as lack
of productivity, disengagement, and participation in destructive
behaviors. When people are bored, they
are more likely to make performance
errors and that could be a big deal for many positions, especially those that
directly impact lives. However did you
know that when people are bored, they are disengaged from satisfying activity
and more likely to become internally focused, putting them at a higher risk for
depression? Furthermore, in a study in 1985 which was
part of the longitudinal Whitehall study, it was found after studying death
records that people who had reported experiencing a great deal of boredom were
more likely to die young than those who were engaged
(International Journal of Epidemiology,
2010).
So although in today’s electronic
word, it is rare to be stuck with absolutely nothing to do, all the diversions
in the world can alleviate society’s collective boredom. A place to start could be learning more about
the phenomenon. For example, the common
misperception is low arousal is the only leading cause of boredom. In fact this cannot be farther from the
truth. Boredom can be associated with
both high and low arousal states. For
example, there are certain personality types that are more prone to boredom;
people with high sensitivity to rewards and we don’t just mean financial
rewards. These are people whom in
general feel the world moves too slowly.
On the other hand, highly sensitive individuals with high anxiety are
more likely to withdraw from the world, in the hopes of avoiding a painful
situation. Furthermore, people with a
low level of EI
including the inability to identify and describe one’s own
emotions are more prone to boredom (Personality and Individual Difference,
2007).
Overall boredom is a sign that
what you’re doing right now seems to lack purpose. What you do with it at that point is the
determinant of how it will rule your life.
In this case, boredom
can be a great resource and clue to move out of tedious routines and shed
some innovation to tasks and processes.
People who have the patience to stay with the feeling, and use
imagination and confidence in trying new concepts and directions are likely to strike
a rainbow amidst the rain.
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