Do you find yourself purposely trying to remain “busy” to avoid the excruciating discomfort of “boredom”? Do you find it hard to embrace the self-help advice to accept being bored and just ‘sit with it’?
You’re not alone.
While it’s solid advice to not be afraid of boredom and don’t necessarily avoid it, it can be challenging when we are facing the same tasks and chores day in and day out.
How can we push through these feelings of discomfort, which are normal, and instead of adding to our already overwhelming lives, we use this bored feeling to recharge and increase overall productivity?
Eckhart Tolle says, “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is.”
I love this quote because it points out the bottom line. You are bored because you THINK you are bored. You THINK tasks such as weeding, doing the dishes, paying bills or mopping the floor is mundane and tedious. Change your thinking and you change your world.
There are some ways to help this mind shift along. You can change some of the more boring tasks into moments of joy. Here are some ideas on how to make boring tasks more enjoyable naturally:
- Humming a favorite tune while doing the dishes
- Listening to an inspiring podcast while paying bills
- Playing fun music while mopping the floor
- Creating mini challenges, such as ‘fold 10 pieces of laundry then take 20 marching in place steps’
Implementing these small but powerful practices into your mindful living goal can have a positive influence over your mood and productivity. It truly can make the painful process of moving through tasks you’ve always seen as ‘boring’ into more moments of joy. And who wouldn’t want that?
Do you have any other ways of using mindfulness to squash less than ideal feelings of boredom? We would love to hear them. Good luck and HAPPY MINDING!
Quick and simple mindfulness ideas 