What To Do When You’re Bored With Life
Feeling bored with life is not uncommon. Most people will experience prolonged boredom at some point in their lives. After all, life is decades long—for most people at least. And many of those years will be spent doing the same things on repeat.
Repetition is boring. Fact.
But that shouldn’t mean your whole life is boring. There are things you can do to prevent that, and there may be things you’re doing (or not doing) that are contributing to it.
Here are the most common mistakes you might be making that will keep you firmly stuck in the boredom rut.
1. Behaving like you’re powerless.
First and foremost, you need to take control of your life and the way you think and behave.
While there are some limitations and restrictions, you wield quite a lot of power over your life.
So, if you feel your life is boring, be proactive and do something about it.
Yes, reading this article is a good first step, but the real hard work begins now. You need to be prepared to dig in and stay the course if you want to transform your life into one you find genuine fulfillment in.
2. Ignoring mental health concerns.
If you are living with depression or other mental health issues that contribute to your sense of boredom, you must do your best to get them under control.
It may not be possible to rid yourself of those concerns entirely right now, but there is a big difference between managed and unmanaged mental health.
With the guidance of your doctor or mental health professional, take steps to reduce the severity of the symptoms of your mental health issues.
This will be an important step toward feeling more positive about your life.
3. Dismissing extracurricular opportunities.
Volunteer work is an excellent way to branch out, meet new people, and contribute something positive to the world.
There are many organizations that need everything from casual to skilled labor. You might even be able to put your professional skills and knowledge to work for a meaningful cause.
Another option is to join a professional organization related to your field. It helps not only to break up the boredom and monotony, but to network with new individuals who you may be able to develop professional relationships with.
4. Letting your skillset stagnate.
There are a lot of ways to go about developing a new set of skills. The internet is packed with videos and guides on how to get started in different activities.
You may also decide that going back to college to take some additional courses is a good idea.
College coursework provides structure, guidance, and access to someone who is knowledgeable about the skill you are learning about.
Online college can make it easier to attend classes if you have a busy life.
5. Letting your social circle stagnate.
Where do you find new friends? There may be local activities going on where you can meet other people from your area or hobby groups that feature regular meet-ups.
Religious individuals may want to attend regular services or activities hosted by their place of worship.
Local social media groups can also be a good place to find activities or meet-ups.
6. Not trying new things.
Does your boredom stem from a lack of passions or interests? Then get out there and try some things.
Anything is better than nothing. If it’s not working for you, change the stuff that you’re doing and try something new.
Even when you do things you don’t necessarily like or enjoy, you’re broadening your knowledge and perspective of the world, which gives you the ability to connect with more people and facilitate a better understanding of what you do and do not like.
Chances are pretty good you’ll do quite a few things you don’t like before you find meaningful things that you do. So stick at it.
7. Putting off travel and outings.
Travel doesn’t need to be far off and remote to help bring some excitement to your life.
It can be as simple as heading out of town to some function where you can have a good time and relax.
Maybe an out-of-town concert and a night in a hotel?
A trek to a national park or other natural attraction?
Or maybe save up some money and strike out a bit further afield for a bigger change of scenery.
Even a day-long road trip can be a nice break from one’s day-to-day life.
8. Staying in the wrong job.
It’s not unusual for people to eventually get bored with their choice of job or career.
They may even find that they made the wrong choice in what career to pursue and need to look at other options.
The choice to quit a job and/or change career paths is never a light one, but it may be a necessary one in order to find more happiness and peace in your life.
Some jobs are simply too demanding of time or emotional energy. Others may not provide enough stimulation or give you the room to grow that you really want.
If you’re not happy or satisfied with your career, it may be time to start looking for a change.
9. Neglecting exercise.
Activity and exercise are so beneficial to your physical and mental health.
And with many jobs taking place behind a desk for a large part of the day, it’s no wonder that people are getting more depressed about their lives.
You need exercise to help boost the feel-good chemicals that your body produces when you engage in those activities.
Start small and set some goals to get out and get active. And if you are already active, set some stronger goals—like finishing a marathon or improving your capabilities.
10. Neglecting creativity.
The artists of the world are often driven to create in some way or another. There are a lot of people who get derailed because of the opinions of others or because life simply denies them the appropriate time.
If you are an artist who has stopped creating, you should consider getting back into it. Art helps to flex the creative mind and provides a sense of pride and accomplishment in your work.
Join a healthy community of artists who practice the same medium and work on improving and finishing your works.
You don’t have to be great at it. Very few people are. The important thing is to embrace your art if it brings you happiness.
11. Neglecting quality time with your loved ones.
It is a well-known fact that spending more quality time with your loved ones causes the mind to produce several feel-good chemicals like endorphins.
It’s too easy to let your friendships and relationships slide with how busy life can be for everyone.
You must try to keep those relationships intact by making an effort to stay in touch with your friends and family.
That often means going to gatherings and things you don’t necessarily feel like or want to go to.
There’s a common thread of not wanting to be social or being too tired to participate, but if you fall into that pattern, life will leave you behind.
Attend things when you’re invited, or try to throw a party of your own if you don’t have much going on.
12. Living without belonging.
People like to belong. They also like to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
Finding a purpose or cause to align yourself and your skills with can provide a sense of pride and happiness in making a difference in the world.
That may sound easier said than done, but really there are a lot of movements and groups out there that are trying to make positive changes in the world that you can be a part of.
13. Living aimlessly.
Goal setting is an essential part of self-improvement and feeling as though you are accomplishing things in your life.
It’s easy to drift without aim or direction, but doing so deprives you of the ability to feel like you picked something you wanted to do and accomplish it, a feeling that can provide a nice hit of dopamine when you cross it off your to-do list and gain momentum.
There are many approaches to goal setting, but generally you would want to set short, medium, and long-term goals for your life.
They might be related to your health, career, personal life, or hobbies.
Earlier we spoke about trying new things to find those which bring you happiness and meaning.
But what about all the things you are doing right now that don’t deliver either of those feelings?
Consider stopping them.
This doesn’t mean you can shirk all your current responsibilities. After all, if you have others who depend on you to provide for and/or care for them, you must fulfill those commitments.
But look at your life and at the things you do and ask yourself whether they really mean anything to you.
Perhaps you shop just for the sake of shopping.
Or you watch the news every night just to fill the time.
Or maybe you party hard every Friday night simply because all your friends do it and you’ve always done it.
If something no longer feels worthy of your time, don’t do it.
