A lot of people seem to think that boredom is simply, “having nothing to do.” However, that’s not the case. Boredom is so much more than that. According to Dr. John Eastwood, whose research was reported on in The Guardian, boredom is conceptualized as “the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.”
According to this definition, we’re bored anytime we’re not feeling engaged. Even if we have lots to do, we can still be bored if we don’t feel satisfyingly engaged. Unfortunately, this probably means that most of us are bored quite frequently.
In fact, research reported on in the New York Post earlier this year found that the average adult spends 131 days per year bored. They also found that as many as 60 percent of these people think that their lives are “too adult” and that they desire more fun in their lives.
This seems to point to the fact that instead of always being bored, we should be finding more fun things to do online (that way, it’s budget-conscious). Check out the five fun things we can do online when we’re bored:
Lightly stalk a loved one (or yourself)
Let’s be honest for a second, we all get a bit lost on social media from time to time wondering what an ex is up to (I’ll cop to it if you will). However, there are easier (and more fun) ways to do this. By using services such as golookup, we can find out extensive information on loved ones (or ourselves) that we may have not even known was out there. It’s quite exciting, isn’t it?
Learn a fun skill
You’ll find all kinds of great ways to learn online. Heck, today we can even just think of a skill we’ve always wished we had and look up a video on YouTube that will explain how to do it step by step. This is a great way to stave off boredom while simultaneously learning a cool new skill. Plus, according to Harvard Medical School Publishing, getting mental stimulation is the No. 1 way to “keep our brains young.” Learning, reading, and doing puzzles all count towards mental stimulation.
Create a survey
Whether it’s for work, school, or just for the fun of it; we can use a survey maker online to either collect data or just for the heck of it. We’d be surprised how many people like to fill out those “let’s get to know each other better” surveys on social media. Now, we can personalize these questions.
Expand your mind
From researching a topic to finding a video channel that helps us learn about important topics, there are all kinds of ways to expand the way we think online. For example, the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt — In a Nutshell has been described as videos that explain things with “optimistic nihilism” and it is quite insightful. Or, you could always watch a TED talk or listen to an educational podcast.
Play a game
While playing electronic games can feel like the ultimate waste of time, some evidence suggests their usefulness. For example, while we must be careful with our game time as sedentary lifestyles tend to lead to a plethora of health problems, video games were actually linked in one study to superior cognitive abilities compared to those who do not play video games.
Luckily, there are all kinds of great free online games we can play when we have spare time. A bonus? If we look for ones with a brain teaser aspect (like puzzles) then we will be getting the mental stimulation Harvard Medical School noted as good for keeping our brains young (score!).
