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Our natural reaction to boredom is to find something different to do. We look for something more exciting, more engaging. Although there are definitely times when this is appropriate, often this attitude makes our problems worse. Boredom is caused by a restless mind, a mind that is unable to stay with an activity. We live in a society where we are engaged in constant stimulation: while waiting in a supermarket queue we have magazines to browse and text messages to send, not to mention the constant chatter of thoughts in our head. The unfortunate result of this is that our minds have become so used to stimulation that they cannot tolerate its lack. Furthermore, the more we indulge these impulses for stimulation, the greater our need becomes. Therefore, despite the widely varied activities in which we now engage, boredom in society is prevalent.

How do we counter this state of mind that so easily facilitates boredom? The solution is not to go out and find new things to do, but rather to calm down and learn to focus on whatever we are already doing. We must encourage our minds to calm down and relax. We must forget the daydreams, drop the distractions, and just learn to pay attention. This may seem contradictory - isn’t the boredom of an activity precisely what stops us from paying attention in the first place? Actually, no. Although we often associate boredom with certain activities, boredom has more to do with our own state of mind. Rather than boredom causing inattention, it is our inability to concentrate on something that causes us to lose interest. This is demonstrated in the following Scientific American quote:

In one classic 1989 experiment, psychologists James Laird and Robin Damrad-Frye of Clark University discovered that very low level distraction such as a quiet television turned on in the next room led participants to describe a listening comprehension task as “boring.” Unaware of what was distracting them, the subjects could find no other explanation for their inattention. But when the TV was blaring, the subjects instead commented that the sound made it impossible to focus. Without any distraction, some students actually said that what they had heard in the comprehension exercise was stimulating. The results thus support the authors’ hypothesis that “the essential behavioral component of boredom is the struggle to maintain attention.”

Therefore, developing the ability to focus is more crucial than ever. After all, dealing with boredom is not just a mere convenience. Frequent boredom puts us at greater risk for anxiety and depression, and has an adverse effect on our work and our social interactions. In contrast, learning to pay attention helps the mind to relax and rest in the moment, directly counters the thought patterns that lead to boredom, and thus brings about a stress-free and contented life, imbued with inner peace.

Neuroscience research has demonstrated that the state of paying attention has measurable effects on our brain, and is essential for reorganizing neural circuits via neuroplasticity (see Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain for an excellent summary). This This simply confirms what any spiritual guru, developmental psychologist, or successful person can tell you: the ability to concentrate is one of the most valuable tools for success. Many of us cannot motivate ourselves to pay attention to a task that we consider pointless (which, for many of us, is our job). However, I argue that our motivation for paying attention can simply be for attention’s sake.

Around the world, people devote countless hours to the practice of meditation. They are training the mind to release distracting thoughts and to focus on a single point (such as their breathing, or a mantra). If this mental discipline is so valuable then it would be foolish to ignore opportunities to develop concentration in everyday life. The ability to rest the attention with an activity and be free from distracting thoughts brings benefits in all aspects of life.

If a task, or our job, is truly pointless and meaningless then there is a strong argument to change it. However, in the meantime, we must keep our attention engaged. We have all experienced days when we are plagued with distractions - those of us in office jobs may continually stop to check our e-mail, read the news, daydream, or chat with colleagues. We do anything to avoid focusing on the task in front of us. Although this may seem relaxing at first, we quickly develop a frustration with our life and job, and our motivation declines. By contrast, in meditation we are encouraged not to cling to passing thoughts, but instead to rest the attention with the object of meditation. We keep returning the attention to this point whenever it wanders. The more we do this in life, the easier it gets, and we observe our life becoming more and more satisfying.

Therefore, regardless of how meaningless or uninspiring our task, it is still a good opportunity to pay attention. We should practise doing this all of the time. The benefits are well worth it.