{"id":822,"date":"2015-10-29T22:46:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T05:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/?p=822"},"modified":"2015-10-29T22:46:34","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T05:46:34","slug":"the-zen-of-boredom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/the-zen-of-boredom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Zen of Boredom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boredom has its uses. For one, it can be the perfect way to wind down an uptight brain \u2013 if you know what to do with all the nothing stretching in front of you. Last week I mentioned how I used to come home after a long, dreary day brimming with ideas. This month I experienced the opposite: having so much time I couldn\u2019t fill it.<\/p>\n

I dedicated this month to writing, getting 25k done on the novel and more. I achieved that writing only 2 – 3 hours a day. Next month I might try to stretch it to four hours, but I\u2019ve realized I can\u2019t stretch it well beyond, into the 8 – 12 hour mark, because its burns out my brain. In all the time I didn\u2019t spend writing I exercised, visited friends, and watched stuff on Netflix. But mostly I read articles, novels, and short stories. I filled my brain with prose.<\/p>\n

It proved to be too much for me. I\u2019d get to the end of the night and my brain would be so tired I\u2019d zone out until I decided to say screw it and go to bed early. I spent so much time creating and consuming narrative I could barely daydream about what to write next. I was antsy. I was bored. So I decided I really need a hobby, a different pursuit \u2013 one where I can zone out for an hour or two.<\/p>\n

I took up modding again \u2013 in extreme moderation. I started with the most tedious job sitting on my mod\u2019s to do list. Sitting at the computer clicking on the same menu over and over to replace one object with another. Its particular tedium is similar to data entry. And it felt so good. It was the exact kind of zoning out my brain needed. One where attention is required but it only takes the slightest amount of thought.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve identified a few kinds of boredom, some good and some bad.<\/p>\n

Antsy boredom:<\/strong> the bad kind of boredom. You don\u2019t know what to do with yourself. Maybe you just finished something and don\u2019t feel like you have enough time to start something new. Maybe you\u2019re just burnt out. Whatever it is, this kind of boredom is a gaping yawn across an abyss of ARRGH.<\/p>\n

The solution is to do something. Plan the next thing, go for a walk, distract yourself with mindless entertainment. If you can\u2019t muster that, maybe nap or go to bed. Do anything but sitting around feeling miserable. I find it easily cure by\u2026<\/p>\n

Mindless activity:<\/strong> many people think this kind of boredom is bad as well, but it\u2019s actually rewarding. For one, you get stuff done. It gives your brain a break if you let yourself zone out and concentrate on the task. Even a useless mindless activity can sweep the cobwebs out of your brain.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine used to blow up a blank page in MS Paint and color it in one pixel at a time, and while chatting we all used to watch. Does that sound like the most boring thing ever? Well, it is! It\u2019s funny how interesting a boring task can be. Mindless activity also leads to the next effect of boredom\u2026<\/p>\n

Daydreaming:<\/strong> what happens when you\u2019ve reached a moment of zen. Even the people who push \u201cmindfulness\u201d as the secret to fully living neglect simple daydreaming. \u201cStay in the moment,\u201d they say. How about no. If I\u2019m staring at the clear blue sky and a new scene for my novel bursts into my head in full color, I\u2019m sure as hell not pushing it out of my mind. Half the time it\u2019s the reason I let myself zone out.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve fought all my life for the personal space necessary to nurture my inner self. The question, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d when it looks like I\u2019m \u201cdoing nothing\u201d infuriates me. I tell people, \u201cI\u2019m thinking,\u201d and they look at me like I\u2019ve grown a second head. Then they wonder why they have all their good ideas in the shower, and the daydreamers say, \u201cDuh.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>by <\/span>\"feather\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boredom has its uses. For one, it can be the perfect way to wind down an uptight brain \u2013 if you know what to do with all the nothing stretching in front of you. Last week I mentioned how I used to come home after a long, dreary day brimming with ideas. This month I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[20,32,47],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living","tag-advice","tag-creativity","tag-work-life-balance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}