Reality Check: Are You Bored Or Are You Just Boring?

Do you ever get bored? It’s terrible, right? There’s nothing to do, there’s no one around, and so you just sit there and be bored.

We have all been affected by boredom. Even the most affluent and successful and energetic of us have felt the sting of boredom before. I don’t know this firsthand – but I think you would be hard pressed to find someone to have never been bored. We have all had that one class in University or High School that, no matter how hard you tried, you could not keep your concentration, especially after a late night out.

It is not a good feeling, so let Louis CK explain why you should never be bored:

“I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing. So you don’t get to be bored.”

I just want to let that set in and then start a slow clap. I know Louis CK is a comedian, but he’s basically the George Carlin of his generation and as funny as those two are/were, they also toed the line between comic and philosopher. Plus Louis is right you do not get to be bored. In the example he’s saying it to his 9 year-old daughter and he has no time for her boredom. Nor do I have time for yours.

Nor do you have time for your own boredom.

Procrastination is a waste of time and boredom is a waste of temperament.

First of all if you are bored because there is nothing to do, that 100% is on you. A great moment, a great day, a great life is your responsibility, no one else’s. It’s not up to someone else to keep you entertained, to keep you motivated, and save you from boredom. That needs to come from within.

If a friend cancelled plans on a Friday night, find something else to do.

If a project or client fell through, don’t mope, don’t wallow. As Jay-Z said it’s onto the next one.

If you are bored with your job, find a new job.

Yes, it’s easier said than done, but why would that stop you?

Boredom because there’s nothing to do? Honestly think to when you have nothing to do. How is that even possible? There is always something to be done. Read, write, create, cook, get outside, go exercise, start a side hustle, start another if you are cooking along with the first one, make a to-do list, get started on the to do list.

I wrote a book about 60 different side hustles, I could write one about 1,000+ reasons why you cannot be bored. Or you can write it yourself.

There’s another one. I’m hot, why stop now?

It’s not about filling time. It is about making the best use of the time you have. You can fill time all you want, fill it with video games, television, Netflix – maybe all that will take your mind off your boredom. There are two things you can do when bored to make positive change: create or consume.

Creating is the most high impact activity you can take when bored. You create by writing, drawing, building, singing or whatever other activity results in the creation of something new. After creation is the act of consumption which is when you watch, read or listen to something for either entertainment or educational purposes.

It’s important that you’re careful about what you choose to consume. Better yet, it’s important to be careful how often you consume content for entertainment over education. Zig Ziglar once said it best, ‘Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.‘

Do not get bored. There is too much to be done, so get out and do it.