Boredom is the uncomfortable feeling that arises when you've nothing to distract you from yourself. It's a great opportunity to get to know yourself better. Granted I'm now 60 and retired, but I never get bored anymore... YMMV
I’ve recently realized that (for me) boredom is just not wanting to do the next thing. I have plenty to do. A dozen things on my todo list and my administrative list gets longer faster than it gets shorter. And yet this weekend I was looking at Netflix saying to myself what to watch? I need to sneak up on myself and just start something without thinking about it. Sometimes I find something so unappealing I can trick myself to do the next least appealing.
Looking back on being bored in my youth. There are books I wish I had read. Things I would love to have accomplished, friends I wish I’d spent more good time with.
Is there anything that future you would be tickled to have learned or practiced or experienced? (I wish I’d taken up an offer to learn to dive when I was 12. In college my most appealing class was underwater archaeology. The class was full but if I’d come to the prof with “certified to dive” he’d have made a spot for me)
Some examples from my life:
I was just reading about the French Revolution and Napoleon. How did my education miss that? How did I that take so long to realize the gap? It’s not that my life was lesser because of it, but I’m 200p in and find it fascinating. He was such a dirty liar. Sure he won battles and formalized laws but he was a real crap person. So fascinating to see for myself. (And interesting parallels with current events)
A few days ago on here I learned about some of the early days of science and how science might have been inspired by the practice of engineers being rigorously evidence based, try something see what works. Oh and the first submarine was invented in the 1600s (wtf?!) I wanted to learn more about that so I requested 4 books on the history of science from the library. (How exactly did successes in engineering lead to the formal practice of science? This state change could have happened anytime in the previous five thousand years. What did it?)
Note how this is not “read a book” this is “find something fascinating and dive in”
I read Sapiens when I was 35. I really should have read it when i was 18. It would have changed the course of my life.
When I was a kid my friends were learning karate. I wanted to but never got around to joining (I thought I was behind but that was decades ago, imagine decades of experience with a martial art!)
I do my own car work (because the shop costs $90/hr and even though I can afford it I like the agency of being able to diagnose and fix it myself) I have 5 packages of parts on the way and need to look up the procedure for two tasks. Do you have a car? Do you know how to fix common problems? Can you change the oil? (You can buy all the tools, parts and materials for what it costs to have someone else do it once)
Yesterday I talked to an old friend I hadn’t talked to in years. I’m so glad I did. (When’s the last time you called your mother? Mine is dead. I can never call her again. I’d pay a lot to be able to call her and just share some recent successes and activities. I sat staring at the bees yesterday and I would have liked to share that with her but I can’t. You probably can)
Go to the pound and play with the dogs. If you connect with one take him home.
Is there anything exercise hobby that appeals to you? Do that.
Any software you wish existed? Claude code is basically a (80% quality) dedicated software engineer.