11:11 Waves Blog 67: Boredom

Weekly ideas to stimulate reflection, inspire new possibilities and encourage new ways of doing and being.

1. Test the water

This week’s word is: Boredom

Boredom is a state of feeling disinterested and emotionally disengaged with one’s environment or activity, where nothing seems satisfying or stimulating. The word boredom originates from the verb “bore” which means to tire through tediousness or to weary by dullness.

What is your definition of boredom and how do you relate to it? Discuss the question here.

2. Experience the initial wave

To broaden your perspective, take few minutes to read the following thoughts and notice what comes up for you.

I.

"Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?” Friedrich Nietzsche

II.

“Boredom: the desire for desires”. Leo Toslstoy

III.

Throughout history, the perception of boredom has evolved significantly. In ancient philosophies, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, boredom was viewed as a challenge to be overcome through self-discipline and the pursuit of virtue. During the medieval period in Europe, boredom or “acedia” – as it was known among the Christian monastic communities - was seen as a spiritual crisis that interfered with religious duties. This perception linked boredom to moral and spiritual failure, which needed to be actively combatted through prayer and meaningful work. The Enlightenment era shifted focus, with thinkers like Kant exploring boredom's role in motivating intellectual and artistic endeavors. In the modern era, existentialists like Kierkegaard interpreted boredom as an existential crisis that prompts deep self-reflection and a quest for authentic existence. Today, in the digital age, boredom is often seen as an undesirable state to be alleviated by constant stimulation, yet psychologists emphasize its importance for creativity and personal growth.

3. Dive deep

To deepen your awareness and spark new discoveries, this week I invite you to pause when you notice feelings of boredom throughout your day. When this occurs, take a moment to reflect on the following questions and make a note of your answers in a journal:

• What are you doing in that moment? (this could be a household chore or a work task)

• What thoughts are going through your mind?

• What do you wish you were doing instead?

At the end of the week, review your journal entries to analyze the data you have collected. Look for patterns and consider the following questions:

• Are there specific times of day, activities or environments where boredom strikes more often?

• How do your physical and emotional states influence your experience of boredom?

• What underlying desires or needs might your boredom be indicating?

4. Ride your radiant wave

This week I encourage you to dig into boredom and transform your perceived mundane and boring tasks into sources of interest and fascination by engaging with them for progressively longer intervals. To do this, I invite you to pick an activity that you find boring or disengaging (this could be a household chore or a work task). Start by engaging with the task fully for two minutes. This means focusing all your attention on the task, avoiding distractions, and trying to engage with all aspects of the activity. If the task remains boring after the first interval, double the time and continue to engage with it. Keep doubling the time spent on the task – four minutes, eight minutes, sixteen minutes and so on. After each session, write down: new observations about the task, any aspect that became more interesting, changed feelings about the task. After this reflection, evaluate whether this immersion technique helped transform your experience from boredom to interest. If you found some benefits, consider how you may apply this technique to other tasks in the future.