In the Bored Room

We all know what it feels like to be bored. That feeling of dissatisfaction bordering on disaffection mixed with a sense of having ‘checked out’ of something essential to life. Boredom is, according to Tolstoy, the ‘desire for desire.’ You want something to ‘start.’ You just don’t know what that something is, or what it should be. 

But what’s it for? Why do we get bored? And are we all bored by the same things? There is now a whole field of study into boredom, why it happens and the purpose it serves and, interestingly, there is increasing evidence to show it has links to feelings of anxiety and that this is the case for a number of different reasons. And, just like anxiety, boredom is on the rise. 

Boredom and anxiety are both states which push us to act by telling us that some kind of change needs to take place. While there might be nothing you can do to change the length of time you’re stuck in a traffic jam or on a delayed train, the same is not true for regularly feeling bored at work or in your romantic relationship. In these two cases, you can take action and make a change to ensure the job is more engaging and the relationship more meaningful, thereby assuaging the feelings of boredom and anxiety.

Some types of boredom appear to be universal. For example, it’s not difficult to find people who agree that being stuck in a traffic jam for a long period of time is boring. Unless we’re at the end of the queue and we know another route, it’s also a situation which is out of our control: no one chooses to get stuck in traffic and the lack of control is exacerbated by not knowing how long you’re going to have to remain there. Here we can see a direct link between boredom and anxiety through the innate need of control: imposed boredom denies us control; denied needs lead to higher levels of anxiety. It’s also an experience devoid of meaning and, again, meaning and purpose are innate needs.

It is these two aspects of experience that the field of boredom studies has concluded are major factors in feeling bored: lack of engagement and lack of meaning. When the two combine — such as in the case of an extended period in a traffic jam — a universally boring situation is created and recognised.

Children are notorious for feeling bored. We might all remember being told as a child that ‘only boring people get bored’ or ‘boredom is a choice.’ Boredom can therefore feel like a character flaw. After all, the observation of another’s ennui is uninteresting and unattractive and so we distance ourselves, lest we also become boring. 

What the research misses, though, is the participants’ determination of focus. In both the case of being stuck in traffic and feeling bored as a child, the unmet need is focused on in an almost obsessive way. By concentrating on just how unmet the need is, a boring situation is emotionally constructed. A different way of managing the situation would be, for example, to accept the situation is temporary and instead focus on a different need for its duration. 

Having said this, it seems the main reason that both boredom and anxiety are on the rise is the cultural insistence on constant activity and stimulation. Studies show that people find it increasingly difficult to sit in a room for 15 minutes and do nothing and, when given the choice of sitting there or self-administering an electric shock, many opted for voltage. Research is starting to suggest that the constant passive over-stimulation associated with the ‘connected’ society is having an impact on our ability to seek out active stimulation and the deeper level of thinking that goes along with that, choosing instead to fight fire with fire or, in other words, boredom with boredom, and anxiety with boredom and more anxiety.

It would make sense, then, to suggest that by tackling increasing levels of anxiety, we will also combat the rising levels of boredom, as well as the arguably unhealthy behaviours such as excessive alcohol consumption or over-eating that run alongside. Although boredom is, by definition, not enjoyable, it is not objectively negative. In fact, under the right circumstances, it can have positive consequences such as stimulating creativity, self knowledge through the opportunity for reflection, or a change of course of action. But this can only happen in the absence of the anxiety-associated low-stimulation attempts to combat it. It stands to reason, then, that if you tackle your anxiety, not only will you feel bored less often but, when you are, you’ll have a higher chance of it being a genuinely insightful — perhaps even revelatory — experience. And there’s not many people who can say that about sitting in a traffic jam! Once your anxiety is addressed and all your innate needs are met in balance, you’ll find that feeling bored is a rare occurrence. 

Have you read to the end of this without feeling bored? How often do you get bored? Maybe you never experience boredom! Do let us know in the comments…

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