Steemit Engagement Challenge - S6W2: What I Do When I Am Bored

Hello Friends,

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Let me start by congratulating the STEEM INDONESIA community for being among the appointed communities to host the season 6 Steemit Engagement Challenge. I have observed and followed some of the activities of this community, and I must say am impressed. This week's contest is another interesting one presented by you titled What Do You Do When You're Bored by @steem.indonesia.

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As humans, we are likely to have emotional reactions, which could either be good or bad. These feelings usually have control over how our day-to-day activities would be. Boredom is equally a feeling, that affects us every day, but many of us don't give it the time or consideration it deserves.

It's time to change that mentality, and focus on ways to deal with this issue. That's the more reason I find this contest very interesting. Join me as I share some experiences, tips, and tricks on boredom and how I usually deal with it.

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Possible Causes Of The Boredom Feeling

This refers to that feeling you sense when you have nothing to do and you can't find anything to entertain yourself with. The word "boredom" is old, as it was first used in the 18th century, but the emotion of boredom has existed for much longer than that. Once you know what causes boredom, you can learn how to fight against it or even prevent it from happening in the first place.

There are many theories about what causes the feeling of boredom to come into existence, including theories that go back to the beginning of human life.

• The Scientific theory of Boredom: This states that life is full of ups and downs, and the feeling of boredom is natural and a normal part of life, especially in people who are introverted or have the tendency to be self-reflective.

• The Psychological theory of Boredom: Those who study boredom says it's different than a lack of stimulation. Boredom can increase when there's too much stimulation around you, like if you're at an exciting concert that lasts for hours.

The bore-out syndrome is now being talked about as an issue for workers with jobs that aren't stimulating enough. A recent study found that when people were put in rooms with nothing to do they ended up spending most of their time daydreaming instead of feeling bored. Experts speculate this could mean our brains need some type of mental challenge during idle periods in order to feel content.

Psychologically, the summary cause of boredom is centered on these two points below.

• Most people believe their own thoughts are more interesting than anything else going on around them.

• Boredom is an experience caused by monotony in activities and unfulfilling mental stimulation. In other words, it happens when we stop having new things happen in our lives and don't have anything new to think about.
  When there's nothing left for us to do, we end up focusing on our thoughts, and those thoughts start getting boring. When this happens for too long, it leads to feelings of restlessness and dissatisfaction.

How I overcome Boredom, And The Activities I Do

If you’re feeling a little bored, don’t worry friend, you aren’t alone, as everyone gets bored at some point or the other, whether it’s because of hours on the same project, an absence of interesting things to do, or just the general day-to-day life.

I think am feeling bored here

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Generally, the best strategy to get yourself out of boredom is to engage your mind and brain with something interesting and exciting. It shouldn't be something that continually repeats itself without any variety.

I personally overcome the feeling of Boredom in two major ways:

• By Playing Variety Games
• Going Out For Sports Activities

• By Playing Variety Games: Why I refer to it as a variety game is that, there's usually no continuous repetition of scenes and characters. In some games, we tend to only play based on how the way the programmers have designed it for us to play, there are usually no fresh contents or self-added attributes to the game, and as such we might get even more bored. Score Hero is a good example of a game with no variety.

Nevertheless, I recommend a game which allows you to make your inputs by deciding how you want your game to go, as well as having control over what happens in the game. eFootball PPSSPP is that game that drives away boredom from me.

me playing the efootball with my phone

As you can see in the GIF above, am playing and enjoying this game, not only because of the outstanding graphics but because it allows me to control and decides how the game characters are manipulated. The excitement I get about the unexpected occurrences in the game is what drives boredom away from me.

• Going Out For Sports Activities: This is another powerful strategy, I employ whenever am feeling bored. Sports activities are very recreational and entertaining, which helps to stimulate the brain and make us forget unnecessary thoughts and loneliness that would lead to boredom or probably depression.

I Went outside to do some sports activities

As seen in the image above, I was feeling bored at home, but I decided to go out and get myself busy with some sports activities like skating and bicycle riding. This strategy works very fast, and I recommend it. If you're feeling bored try to at least do some walking outside and you would feel better.

My Tips To Overcome The Feeling Of Boredom

Whether you’re bored at home, stuck in traffic, or sick of your daily routine, the feeling of being bored can be incredibly frustrating. That's why I have brought some of these tips to help you prevent the feeling of boredom.

• Try To Do Something That Scares You: As awkward as it may sound, it really does work, and usually leads to some really amazing experiences. Think about things that have been scaring you in the past, and then think about how those scares have impacted your life. Are there any skills or strengths that they reveal about you? and so on. These thoughts might seem unnecessary but believe me, they would help build your mindset into making you feel like a hero who could overcome any challenge.

• Try To Learn Something New: Undoubtedly one of the best ways to prevent the feeling of boredom. When you're bored, it's easy to get stuck in a routine and do the same thing over and over again. The more you challenge yourself with new experiences and knowledge, the less likely you'll be bored in the future.

• Try To Go Out And Meet New People: This means traveling somewhere that's out of your comfort zone, or even talking to someone you don't know. You might be surprised at how many interesting people you can meet at the gym, at a museum, or in a classroom. Trying to start an interaction with such people could help prevent boredom to some extent too.

• Be Mindful Of Your Thoughts As They Control Your Behavior: Turn your attention inward and notice what you're feeling, thinking, and sensing at the moment. Notice any thoughts or feelings that might be contributing to boredom, and then you could overcome them. For example, if you find yourself bored in a conversation with someone, you might notice that you're not interested in talking about the topic they brought up, so you can avoid it next time.

• Try Doing Something Physical: Get up and move around, stretch your muscles, and do a few jumping jacks. Play with the dog or throw around a ball with your kids. Even just standing up and walking around the room will help get your blood flowing and give you new thoughts and ideas that might spark an interest in something.

Important Notes On The Feeling Of Boredom

The first thing to note here is that Boredom happens to all men, and as such I regard it to be a natural feeling or mode that can't be avoided. For example, if you're in a situation where the energy and excitement are low, then it will feel boring.

If you are equally at a party but you don't know anyone or nothing is happening to keep your interest, then it will also feel boring. Your mind might try to find ways to escape the situation or make something happen so that you can feel more engaged.

This means boredom usually comes unexpectedly, and connecting with nature could be the greatest way to overcome this boredom, which requires us to go outside, walk through the park, or even by looking up look up to the sky.

Conclusion

Like I said earlier, we all feel bored at various points in our lives but most people don't even understand this feeling. It is experienced in two forms Intrinsic and Extrinsic boredom. Intrinsic is when we have nothing to do, while Extrinsic is when a person has something they could be doing but would rather not do it.

Generally, the feeling is usually frustrating, but we could use some of the tips mentioned in this post to prevent it. I will say a big thank you to the organizers of this interesting contest. Am inviting @franyeligonzalez, @m-fdoa, and @enamul17 to check out this contest.

Thanks for your time here.