5 Methods to Overcome Boredom for Your Mental Health

When I was in college, I was so busy with school and socializing that I never had a moment or a reason to be bored. I was never even bored during my classes. But as a working adult, life is much more mundane. Outside of work, there are times when even my hobbies seem boring. In this post, I talk about my experience with boredom, how it affected my mental health, and the ways I overcame it.

The Day that I Felt Bored of My Hobbies

One day, I woke up late in the afternoon. It was about four hours before my work shift. I felt awful for wasting my day. Usually, to cheer myself up, I would turn to flow activities such as coloring and listening to music. But on this specific day, those activities did not seem interesting. So I did what I always do; I worried something was wrong with me. Was my depression getting bad again? I never thought my favorite hobbies would lead to boredom.

Thankfully, my boredom did not last long. It ended after a few days. My mind settled, and I found joy in the present. These five strategies helped me get over my boredom.

5 Strategies that Helped Me Conquer Boredom and Save My Mental Health

1. I acknowledged my boredom without judgment. Admitting to having unpleasant emotions often makes me feel ashamed. The shame stems from the fact that I do not have a logical reason to feel bad. So, I beat myself up for being ungrateful. But this time, I reminded myself that boredom is something everyone experiences sometimes. By acknowledging my boredom and its normalcy, I was able to deal with it while remaining kind to myself. So I could move on to the next step.
2. I used the opposite action technique. When I lack the motivation to do something, I try to spend 10 minutes doing it anyway. I applied this to my coloring hobby. At first, it was difficult because I was not feeling inspired. But after a few days of using the opposite action technique, I regained the feeling of joy that coloring usually brought me.
3. I tried an old hobby. When I was tired of coloring, I thought about another creative activity I used to love--drawing. In high school, drawing pictures of characters from my favorite movie made me happy. After a while, I stopped the hobby because I was terrible at it. But when I drew a mandala a few weeks ago, I felt inspired to color the design.
4. I listened to music from my past. In addition to reviving an old hobby, I listened to music I enjoyed during my teenage years. The songs brought back a lot of good memories. Then I looked for newer songs by my favorite older bands. My interest in music increased again.
5. I wrote about how my hobbies have made me feel. After I started to enjoy my fun and creative outlets again, I felt more motivated to write. In addition, I felt more confident in my ability to succeed in life.

Now that I know how boredom affects my motivation, self-esteem, and productivity, I have healthy strategies to energize myself.