Allow Yourself To Be Bored

For most of you, your lives are so filled with stimuli, not to mention responsibilities that it’s almost impossible for you to sit still and do nothing, much less relax-even for a few minutes. What I’d like you to do is allow yourself to be bored. I’m not kidding. If you allow yourself to be bored, even for an hour-or less-and don’t fight it; the feelings of boredom will be replaced with feelings of peace. And, after a little practice, you’ll learn to relax.

At first, you might barely be able to stand it…you’ll resist. You’re so used to doing something every second that you might really struggle to relax. But after a while you’ll get used to it, and will learn to actually enjoy it. I’m not talking about hours of idle time or laziness, but simply learning the art of relaxing, of just “being,” rather than “doing,” for a few minutes each day. There isn’t a specific technique other than to consciously do nothing. FYI- if it makes you feel better, doing nothing is technically doing something. Just sit still, maybe look out the window, and notice your thoughts and feelings. At first you may get a little anxious, but each day it will get a little easier. The payback is tremendous.

Much of your anxiety and inner struggle stems from your busy, overactive mind always needing something to entertain it, something to focus on, and always wondering, “What’s next?” While you’re eating dinner you wonder what’s for dessert, you ponder what you should do afterward. After that evening, it’s “What should I do this weekend?” After you’ve been out, you walk into the house and immediately turn on the TV, pick up the phone, open a book, or start cleaning. It’s almost as though you’re frightened at the thought of not having something to do, even for a minute.

The beauty of doing nothing is that it teaches you to clear your mind and relax. It allows your mind the freedom to “not know,” for a brief period of time. Just like your body, your mind needs an occasional break from its hectic routine. When you allow your mind to take a break, it comes back stronger, sharper, more focused and creative.

When you allow yourself to be bored, it takes an enormous amount of pressure off you to be performing and doing something every second of every day.