We’ve never had more ways to entertain ourselves.
And we’re still bored.
That suggests we may be treating boredom with the wrong medicine.
When boredom hits, we reach for stimulation. Check the phone. Scroll. Watch something. Find something else to occupy our attention.
But stimulation and engagement aren’t the same thing.
Research has even found that rapidly switching among online videos to relieve boredom can leave people more bored.
The opposite of boredom isn’t entertainment.
It’s engagement.
Engagement happens when we’re paying attention, sufficiently challenged and doing something we find meaningful.
So the next time you’re bored, resist automatically reaching for more stimulation.
Ask a better question:
What would engage me right now?
The answer might be learning something, tackling a challenge, helping someone, having a real conversation or simply giving your full attention to something you’ve been experiencing only halfway.
Don’t just entertain yourself out of boredom.
Find something to do that engages you.
Mark Sanborn is an international speaker and advisor to leaders and is the Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University, the Premier Life Skills University which challenges students to “choose to be extraordinary.” For more information about his work or to book him to speech, visit www.marksanborn.com.
