It is safe to say that our lives have become very structured, from calendars and routines being filled quickly with work, school or life demands, to ‘downtime’ being scheduled and feeling like another chore. We often force ourselves to constantly be productive, and are encouraged to turn hobbies into money-making activities. We also tolerate silence and boredom less – filling gaps with music, podcasts, scrolling on social media, to the point where we are constantly multi-tasking, placing extra demands on our brains. In short, it seems that we might be struggling to tolerate boredom.
Boredom is often viewed as an unpleasant state of being. Some research supports an impact of boredom on mental health, for instance by suggesting a correlation between long-term or frequent boredom with risk-taking behaviours, substance use, and low mood (Ndetei et al., 2023). When working with young clients in particular, we often have discussions around using time mindfully, for instance planning activities they enjoy, engaging with their social circles, using meaningful distraction as a coping strategy to re-direct their attention from confronting internal experiences (unpleasant feelings, overthinking, rumination) when they become spiralling cycles.
Wanting to escape these spirals, feeling the pressure to always be productive, or finding it challenging to ‘sit in silence’, are all reasons why someone might go to great lengths to escape boredom.
However, it is worth remembering that unstructured time can be beneficial for our mental health, especially in a life that feels constantly busy and often overwhelmingly demanding.
Firstly, unstructured time that is free of demands or to-do lists disguised as self-care, is a crucial time for our brains and bodies to rest. When we are constantly multitasking and scheduling things and activities to the minute, downtime becomes another time in which we feel the pressure to be productive or to always be “doing”.
Unstructured time can be especially important for neurodivergent individuals who might find it extra difficult to manage busy and structured day-to-day lives. Having some time each day that is truly free of demands, even subtle ones, can be deeply regulating. Without the pressure to “perform” or meet expectations, they may find more space to follow their own rhythms, tune in to what they need, and engage with the world in ways that feel natural and safe. This kind of demand-free time isn’t lazy or unproductive – it’s a vital form of decompression.
Research from the Covid-19 pandemic in particular, also supports a positive role of boredom in encouraging people to engage their creativity, seek new activities and explore new ideas and perspectives.
Furthermore, reframing our beliefs about boredom might impact how it is experienced; specifically, a recent study (Tam et al., 2022) explored the effect of boredom beliefs on the boredom-mental wellbeing link in young people and found that those who most severely disliked the feeling of boredom, actually experienced it more frequently and intensely, with a stronger association to poorer mental wellbeing. On the other hand, those who relatively accepted and normalised boredom, reported better mental wellbeing.
It is also worth noting that we often talk about avoidance as a coping strategy that, whilst helpful in the short-term to deal with difficult feelings and thoughts, it is actually quite detrimental in the long-term as it doesn’t allow us to process these experiences. Sometimes, boredom can allow us to sit with these difficult feelings, so we can learn to tolerate them and build up resilience to handle discomfort – a key skill for better mental health and wellbeing.
Overall, it is worth keeping in mind that boredom is not all good or all bad, and whilst consistently feeling bored might be a sign that something in the way we experience life might need to be changed, boredom can also be reframed as a positive, helpful state of being that allows us to rest, recharge, or engage with something different than our usual day-to-day.
Author: Valentina Sartore
Psychotherapist
