Is Boredom The Reason You Are Burned Out & Fatigued?

Mar 16, 2021 | Blog | 0 comments

Often we associate boredom with not having an interest in something, or not being challenged in life.

Remember being ‘bored’ in school holidays? Luckily we had the good old 1990’s computer with Ski or Die and Duke Nukem (tell me you remember these games!) and of course getting outdoors having fun whenever possible.

As adults we can get bored with monotony and it extends to an even deeper level than that where it can be an underlying, under the radar culprit contributing to burnout and fatigue.

Think about it on the physical level.

If you are bored, your posture is likely caving inward so your breathing is inhibited and your shoulders are rounded, causing a slump in your energy.

On a mental level, if you are bored you likely stare at the computer and procrastinate, finding it hard to focus.

You may also over analyse things that are not relevant or get caught up in low level priorities or chatter (in your head or with other people!)

On an emotional level, boredom can evoke anger, frustration, disgust. But according to Deakin University’s Professor Peter Enticott, it can be used to our advantage as a ‘subconscious motivational alarm.’

In fact, research has shown that ‘boredom is the gateway to mind-wandering, which helps our brains create those new connections that can solve anything from planning dinner to a breakthrough in combating global warming.’

But let’s bring it back a bit.

If you have ever had extreme fatigue or burnout where it becomes hard to function on a basic level, my advice is to explore where this is coming from initially, getting to the root cause of the problem.

And it’s always due to a combination of lifestyle factors, like inadequate sleep, stress, overexercising, constant busyness, over stimulation of your nervous system for prolonged periods of time, food choice and more. (If you need help on this, email me info@vanessabheath.com for guidance.)

Collectively, if you are going through this or have ‘hit the wall’, then peeling back the layers here is the way to go, then rebuilding step by step.

Eventually though, you will get to a point of discovering boredom in one or several areas of your lifestyle.

I was surprised recently while helping my clients that so many people were ‘bored’ for a significant amount of their day. And not just with the daily grind, but with life purpose.

I also had this breakthrough a few years back when I was feeling flat in my business and cruising along (but not at the same time), when a colleague straight out said to me: ‘you are bored, Vanessa. It seems like you are bored with life.’

And I thought, wow. That is exactly how I’m feeling but I didn’t know I was feeling that at the same time.

Interestingly, people who get ‘bored’ are generally lovers of life, high achievers and goal oriented individuals. So as soon as these needs are not being met in any area of life, boredom can set in and cause tiredness, drowsiness, laziness.

So what do you do in ensuring boredom can be used to your advantage and not cause fatigue and burnout?

A great starting point is this:

1- Recognise if you are feeling this way and identify where you are bored in these 4 key areas :

Work

Relationship

Health and fitness regime

Life purpose (could be all, or just one or two).

2- Come up with 1 activity you can do to spark up some positive energy in the relevant area.

3- Schedule the activity/s into your calendar so you do them

Another important note here is it’s ok to allow time for this. And it’s ok to ‘switch off and go into creative, daydream mode.

Professor of Psychology, Jonathan Smallwood says, ‘People who are bored think more creatively. The areas of the brain that make up the default mode network—the medial temporal lobe, the medial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex—are turned off when we engage in attention-demanding tasks.

When we lose focus on the outside world and drift inward, we’re not shutting down. We’re tapping into a vast trove of memories, imagining future possibilities, dissecting our interactions with other people, and reflecting on who we are. It feels like we are wasting time when we wait for the longest red light in the world to turn green, but the brain is putting ideas and events into perspective.’

So what is the opposite to boredom?

Excitement, anticipation, joy, enthusiasm to name a few things.

When you are in these states, you are more likely to have energy, vitality and the ‘spark’ in your step, which is a big part of preventing, working through and recovering from burnout and fatigue.

Today, take a breath, slow down and know that it is not a waste of time in doing so. Allow yourself to re-discover what puts a spark in your step and at this point in time what really gives you joy, energy and purpose.

Chat soon,

Vanessa Bartlett xo

aka Pilates Police

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