Keeping Boredom At Bay
I can tell when I get bored; I get sleepy! While I’d like to say I don’t get bored often, in the evening when my husband is watching a TV program I’m not interested in, I curl up on the sofa and take a nap. I’ve tried to get myself to do something constructive, but by that time in the late evening, I’m just too tired to pull out any thing to do.
I’ve also found when I don’t have a ‘plan’ for my day, I can get bored. It sounds silly, but when I don’t have something specific to do, at that moment, my brain draws a blank. Understand, my to-do list includes all sorts of ‘stuff’; my domestic duties; writing; and unusual stuff that I’m sure I’m going to forget if I don’t write it down. But if I honestly have my list complete, (or I’m totally ‘done’ and don’t feel like tackling what’s on my list!) I’m not sure what I want to do next!
I read an article months (maybe years) ago about creating a ‘brain dump’ of everything you’d like to get done. I scoffed at the idea and thought that just seems silly! But what I discovered recently is while not everything is written down, I do have a rather lengthy list of daily to-do’s that each only take about five or ten minutes.
My son, at my request, did a scan of my computer and discovered one area had LOTS of space taken. His first thought was documents, since I write. It wasn’t that. It was my pictures! Oh my goodness. I’d been saying for years, that I needed to go through them, but just couldn’t find the time. I’d work on it for a week or so, then get distracted and forget where I was when I finally got back to it. His suggestion: set the timer on my phone for five minutes. Go through photos every day for only five minutes.
That process worked! So I transferred that same thought process to other areas, where I just don’t seem to have the time to do it, and it allows me to work on it a little every day! That even includes the fun stuff, that I’d never schedule in. I study for five or so minutes, read a little, catch up on mundane things that don’t necessarily interest me, but still need doing, and even exercising!
The point of all this rambling is, we all run into the problem of keeping boredom at bay! It creeps up on us, when we don’t expect it; when we haven’t planned for it! It means staying active doing something that wakes us up and keeps us going!
Sometimes we need something bigger than five or ten minutes to keep us from getting bored or stuck in the same routine. Volunteering is a great way to give back to our community and do something worthwhile. Taking a day trip to a museum, city park, an animal shelter or other place will get the juices flowing again and perhaps even create a bit of energy we didn’t expect.
If homebound because of a disability, these strategies can be difficult. But there are still alternatives to giving in to the sedative of boring! When an actual ‘day trip’ isn’t possible, perhaps take one virtually with DisabledGo or by way of Earthcam (my favorite) which are great ways to experience places you could otherwise not visit!
The thing we need to remember is, being active is a vital part of living a full life, regardless of ability or dis-ability. Sometimes we need to get creative to keep our minds, emotions, bodies and spirits running at a productive speed. Get creative! Stay active!
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/search/tired/
Photo Credit: https://www.freepik.com/photos/phone-timer/8
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-woman-toasting-beer-on-the-side-of-the-road-3009747/
(Just in case the links above don’t work!)