There Are Cures for Boredom: What You Can Do if Life Is Boring

Feb 27, 2011
Jerry Lopper

How to Cheer Up When Bored with Your Life - Derek Jones

Learn the sure cures for boredom that you can easily use when you're bored with your life and wondering what to do.

In boredom a person feels lethargic and not interested in anything. The cure is to find activities that are energizing and engaging.

Some people just want to be entertained. A movie, TV show, or magazine may provide some temporary interest, but since these are passive activities they're not likely to cure your boredom for long. Surfing the Internet for instant cures will be disappointing.

The best cure for boredom with life requires that you involve yourself in some activity that uses one of your unique strengths — those special skills and abilities you've been blessed with. Shifting into an activity that uses a strength will bring you the energy and enthusiasm that counters boredom. If you don't know your strengths, though, first you'll need to invest some time in self-understanding.

Boredom Cures

The best cures hinge upon understanding yourself sufficiently to know what gets you energized and excited. According to positive psychology researcher Alex Linley, Ph.D., using your strengths brings you energy. To cure your boredom with life make sure you're using your unique personal strengths as much as possible during your day. If much of your day is structured in classes or work, finding ways to channel your time into using your strengths can be challenging, but it's possible.

First, you'll need to know your strengths. No matter your age or experience, there are certain unique skills and abilities you possess — and have since birth. Scientists call these your signature strengths, because over time people come to know you by the strengths you possess. You've heard people refer to others this way, such as, "Ask Sue, she has a photographic memory," "Jim can help, he's a computer whiz," or "Call Justin, he's writing a book on financial reporting."

Cheer Up Using Signature Strengths

You may be thinking that other people are really good at things, but you're not. If so, you're wrong, everyone has unique signature strengths. Ironically, since you're very good at some skills and they've come easily to you and have for as long as you can remember, you tend to take them for granted. Sometimes, only other people recognize these as your strengths. So that's a good place to start.

When Bored with Life, Use Your Strengths

Ask your friends what you're really good at. Ask what they count on you to do. You may have to poke around their responses, probing deeper with follow-up questions. Someone replying that "You just make me feel good when I'm around you," may be counting on your sense of humor, or on your positive attitude, or on your ability to stay calm in the midst of a crisis. Make a list of the responses you get from several people. Look for common threads pointing to strengths seen by other people.

Go online to the University of Pennsylvania research site for positive psychology — the study of human well-being. A free, brief questionnaire, VIA Survey of Character Strengths, will take a few minutes to complete, but will return a list of five or six signature strengths. Compare these to what your friends have said. Discuss them with your friends to see if they agree. Discard any that clearly don't fit.

Once you have this foundation of understanding in place, you can cure your own boredom at any time. Here's why. When you're bored you're simply feeling low on energy, with little zest for the activities you either must do or have access to. The sure-fire way to cheer up is to generate your own energy and enthusiasm, which will happen naturally and immediately as soon as you start using one of your strengths.

You can see this for yourself now that you know your strengths. Just recall the last time you used one of your top strengths. You'll probably find that you become energized simply by thinking about it.

What to Do When You're Bored

If short-term entertainment isn't working, shift to an activity that uses one or more of your unique personal strengths — your signature strengths. When using a signature strength, people are more energized, enthused, and fulfilled, a sure cure for boredom.