Photo by Terry Chay
In closing out the work week, I’ve been thinking: How many things do I do simply because I’m bored?
Twitter.
Perez Hilton.
Facebook.
I spend hours wasting time on these and many other distractions. When I’m perusing these sites I’m not moving myself forward on any of my goals. Instead I’m looking for some excitement, something to push me out of my bored state. What a waste of time! I’ve found that it’s incredibly important to consciously discern when I’m doing something out of boredom versus when I’m doing something that maps back to my goals and is a productive use of my time. Even watching TV can fall into the latter category if it’s something I’ve planned for that meets a goal of rejuvenating through leisure (I’m trying to give up a lot of things, but good TV will probably always be close to my heart as an important relaxation and entertainment routine in my life).
Often, when I’m most disappointed in myself is when I’m engaging in these bored-impulse activities. Being more mindful of when it’s happening, and how I can switch gears back into productivity (even if it means taking a scheduled break to ease my mind, which can still be productive) is an important lesson as I’m improving my life and honing in on what’s truly valuable to me.