The anger can be very valuable in helping us to communicate to others what we do not like, or to motivate us to react against the injustices that we see around us. The sadness allows us to show to those around us that need attention or some kind of help.
Even jealousy can be useful in improving our ambition.
The art of getting bored gathers the keys that explain why, granting periods of time away from constant stimulus can enrich our lives. Distraction easily leads to happiness. No more and no less than what happens with children.
Here is the list of positive uses that we can give this emotion:
1. Use it to communicate better with others
We fear to see boredom written on the faces of the people we speak to, whether our colleagues, friends, clients or students. “If at any given moment we notice that the yawning of the public in our presence is evident, it is because something has failed in our message, we have misunderstood it, it was not well understood or it is not appropriate.” For the specialist, this allows us to “beg” whoever is in front of us to do something to change the situation. “In fact, many recipients of this message will quickly adapt to our approach, perhaps reducing the complexity of the message, changing the subject, asking questions or even letting us participate ”.
2. As an adaptive mechanism against social noise or information overload
Sandi Mann sees boredom as a protective reaction that allows us to disconnect from the information and noise that constantly bombards us. “As adults, we live in a world in which we are constantly bombarded with so much information that we couldn’t face it without ‘getting used’ to a large part of it.” Being bored with things allows us to free our brains to focus on those aspects of life that require more careful consideration.
3. Has (is proven) an evolutionary value
In this sense, experts speak of personal growth. Point one, according to the University of Central Lancashire researcher: “While a stimulus is not dangerous or rewarding, it is appropriate that we are lost and focus our attention on other things that can offer us a greater reward.” Or point two: “The second evolutionary advantage of this emotion would be in the reaction against boredom:” When we get bored, we look for news and new stimuli, and this provides -100% – an evolutionary benefit “.
4. Awakening creativity
Sandi Mann also calls the awakening of creativity as “stimulating the production of fantasies”. Abundance can lead us both to stifle creativity and to stimulate it. “Some subjects claimed that boredom plunges them into a state so lethargic that they don’t bother to do anything; in fact, a quarter of respondents in this investigation said that being bored made them want to sleep.” However, a significant minority (20%) said that boredom really sparks creativity and 16% said that letting their minds wander helped them create new ideas in the workplace.
5. The perfect excuse to allow you to take a break
Boredom is a good justification for taking a break. “Expressing boredom allows us to have the perfect excuse to distance ourselves from the type of person who normally participates in the activity from which we wish to take a break. It is also an ‘acceptable’ excuse for not participating in any social order”.
6. Motivating force
Nietzsche said that creative individuals need a lot of boredom if they are to succeed in their work. “It was investigator Gaylin who said: ‘Boredom warns us that all is not well and that something must be done about it’. This translates into a use as a catalyst for action,” a motivating force “that is also achieved” through introspection and self-reflection “.
7. A shield against confrontation
At a deeper level, Mann maintains that boredom can have a purpose of self-protection. “By saying that we are bored, we can avoid facing all kinds of less desirable aspects of ourselves.” It is much less damaging to your self-esteem to state what you find boring. The “boring” label allows us to discard what threatens our self-esteem.
8. Harness your power: how to exploit boredom
You have to know how to exploit the power that comes from being bored. You should take advantage of boredom to:
- Look at the small details.
- Be curious and find interest in everything around you.
- Learn something, acquire a hobby.
- Turn off TV, Internet, Facebook and Wi-Fi and its two-dimensional stimuli to be able to open your eyes to the real world.
- Change job.
- Back to nature. According to Dr. Teresa Belton, from the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, “nature is the antidote to boredom”.
- Tasks tend to be tedious if they are routine. “Try to make them less boring, finding a different way to do them.”
- Reward yourself for doing boring things. “Every half hour of a tedious task, give yourself a prize: a break, something edible, talking to a partner, sending a text … even having time to do something more rewarding.”
