Boredom has a bit of an unfair reputation.
Think back to your childhood, and you can probably recall at least one time when you told an adult — probably a parent — that you were bored, only to be met with some variation of "Go do the dishes, then, or mow the lawn". You may have received the message that boredom gives birth to creativity, or on the more authoritarian side, that you were a whiny little so-and-so.
As a society, we tend to characterize boredom as the domain of the lazy and unproductive, even though research indicates that boredom is a rather universal experience. "Being bored" would be unlikely to be included in a list of the most difficult emotions humans experience, alongside, say, guilt, profound grief, jealousy, fear, and unrequited love.
What is boredom, really?
We've all experienced boredom, research suggests, so it's surprising that a working psychological definition of this emotion — and yes, it is one — didn't come along until fairly recently. Contrary to popular belief, being bored doesn't mean not having anything to do, or suffering from a serious case of excess time.
On the positive side, then, being bored is a sign that we desperately want the kinds of things that would generally be considered healthy and productive — to be useful, to have a purpose, to be intellectually engaged, and even to socially connect with other people in a meaningful way.
On the detrimental side, it means that we're lacking all these things. Looking at boredom as an emotion that indicates that our life is short on meaning and purpose connects this tedious feeling with far more deeper things than the need to "go do something". Being bored can mean we're lonely, depressed, feeling disconnected from the rest of humanity, and that we are lost.
We can differentiate between passing feelings of boredom, which may indeed be alleviated by an exciting new activity or even doing a chore, and existential boredom — the kind of feeling in which we simply don't know what our purpose is any more. If existential boredom means we're after something to give our life meaning but we can't find it, isn't it rather harsh to dismiss it as nothing but too much time on your hands?
How might boredom impact your quality of life in the age of COVID-19?
I don't think I'm off-base when I say that we've all experienced more — and whole new kinds of — boredom since COVID-19 was thrust into our midst. It's interesting, though, that a whole lot of scientific studies have already explored what kind of impact boredom might be having on our mental health during this pandemic.
One study published in PLOS One noted that boredom was the emotion responsible for a slowed sense of time during this pandemic. Anxiety related to uncertainty and fear of dying both caused mental distress, the study found, but if you, too, have been feeling like 2020 has been going on for a rather long time, the kind of boredom related to being unable to engage in the activities that used to give your life meaning and purpose is probably to blame.
Persistent feelings of boredom due to COVID-induced restrictions also, another study found, makes people more likely to feel the need to engage in risky behaviors — which would, in our world, mean going out to get drunk without your face mask, forgetting about hand hygiene, for instance. In this context, we could interpret "boredom" as "social starvation". Many humans are programmed, as it were, to need face-to-face social interactions with other humans, and coronavirus lockdowns robbed them of some of their most fundamental needs.
In another study, participants described their experience with quarantines and lockdowns as not being able to do anything but sit around all day, not knowing what to do, or suffering from repetitive, mundane, days. The more bored people were, the research discovered, the more likely they also were to become depressed and anxious.
COVID-19 put boredom in perspective — being bored doesn't necessarily mean not having anything to do, but it does mean that the available options don't give or purpose, meaning, or a feeling of belonging. Boredom appears to be closely connected with loneliness and the search for human connection.
By being useful and meaningful to someone else, you can find purpose and meaning for yourself, too, in turn lifting your mood, your energy levels, and your overall quality of life.
Your thoughts on this