boredom is one of the biggest challenges of our modern lives
I mean, how often do you think to yourself "my life is boring right now"
or "I've got nothing to do"
well, if you get these thoughts a lot
it's a worrying sign
people who are easily bored are also more likely to develop depression
anxiety, low work performance and poor social skills
of course
you can imagine why being in a constant state of boredom can make you feel depressed
but did you know that there are actually two distinct personalities that are prone to boredom
the first are the impulsive thrill seeking types
these people naturally need more stimulants to feel excited
so while we might only require a normal roller coaster ride
they're searching for the fastest roller coaster to feel the same rush adrenaline
hence
the average day to them it's a little bit more boring
the second type are those who are overly sensitive
these people want to do something exciting
but because they are more sensitive to pain and punishment
it's harder for them to go outside the comfort zone
this leads to a general withdrawal from the world
leaving them with nothing to do
now this is also a depressing
but boredom can be a good thing as well
think about it this way
over the millions of years
evolution has been incredibly efficient at stamping out unwanted traits
if you have the trait which is harmful to your chances of survival
this trait dies out over time
now boredom has survived all these years of evolution
so there's probably a reason for, right?
well, it's likely that boredom motivates us to do something interesting
it makes us curious and more willing to explore new things in life
without it
we would be sitting around doing nothing and make no progress
so the question is
how do we escape boredom
well, if boredom is defined as a lack of engagement with whatever task is at hand
then the opposite would be totally engagement
just think back to times when you experience pure joy
perhaps it was an intense conversation with a friend which made you lose track of time
maybe it was a time when you lost yourself at a concern
you may have also heard of artists claiming they're in the zone
when they so focused on the task at hand
that everything else is non-existent
all these experiences have one thing in common
they're so engaging that you lose yourself in them
so it's no surprise that the Greek root word with ecstasy means standing outside yourself
psychologists have labeled this experience -- flow
to understand it
take a look at this graph
on the x-axis
you have how skilled you are at that particular task
on the y-axis
you have the perceived difficulty of the task
as you can see
you are most likely to achieve flow when you doing something
that's challenging but also achievable with your skill level
if it's too challenging for your skill set
you become anxious and won't enjoy yourself
on the other hand if it's too easy for you
you'll find yourself bored again
because you're not a hundred percent engaged in the activity
so you need to find a balance
now as you can see
there are a couple of motions in between
but the worst would be apathy
this is where we go wrong
because when we're bored
we resort to passive activities like browsing the internet to pass time
however
they don't bring us as much satisfaction
because there's no skill or challenge involved
furthermore
there is evidence to show that experiencing flow leeds to better life satisfaction
in one study
researchers followed the daily lives of participants
via electronic messaging at random times throughout the day
they would ask them what they were doing
and the perceived challenge and skill level of the task
turns out
those who experience more flow reported being happier
more creative
more excited and more motivated
if anything
this teaches us that it's important to keep challenging our selves
in order to live rich and meaningful life
overall
if you're feeling bored
don't despair too much
instead
you are at a sign that you need to start exploring new things
my advice would be to find a worthy project, hobby or task
and try to achieve flow in them