Are your bored? Read on
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When our lives are filled with routines and monotonous meetings, we can all fall victim to the effects of boredom.
But is boredom necessarily a bad thing?
Last week, psychologists reported that staring into space at work can have a positive effect on creativity by giving the mind a chance to wander.
Nor is this the first time that boredom has been linked to a boost in creativity.
Last year, the eminent neuroscientist Baroness Greenfield suggested boredom is good for children because it encourages them to use their imaginations and develop a sense of identity from having to find things to do.
In his book Boredom: A Lively History, Professor Peter Toohey of the University of Calgary in Canada says boredom is linked to the amount of dopamine in a person’s brain.
Studies have found that people with lower levels of the brain chemical suffer from longer and more frequent bouts of boredom.
Professor Toohey suggests that monotony makes it harder for brain cells to connect to each other.
However, ‘a fair amount of aerobic exercise can make a person boredom proof’.
Boredom’s effects are not limited to creativity: it has implications for your health, too, and can even be harmful.
Here we review precisely how good — and bad — boredom can be for you.
The good
It keeps weight off
According to nutritionists at the Universities of Buffalo and Vermont, eating the same food every day leads to fewer calories being consumed overall.
On the downside, if you restrict your diet too much, you’ll get insufficient nutrients.
It boosts fitness
Find yourself fidgeting and drumming your fingers on the desk through boredom? It could have a positive effect on your fitness and weight.
A 2008 study by nutritional scientists at Iowa State University monitored the daily movement patterns of obese and lean women. They found the lean subjects fidgeted more often — in the process burning around 300 extra calories a day.
It eases anxiety
A little bit of tedium can be a good thing, particularly if you are stressed, says Dr Esther Priyadharshini, a senior lecturer in education at the University of East Anglia.
‘We all need down-time, away from the constant bombardment of stimulation. There’s no need for a frenzy of activity at all times.’
…. and can help memory
When Jackie Andrade, professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, compared how well 40 people recalled details of a dull two-and-a-half minute phone message.
Those who’d doodled throughout retained more information than those who tried to sit and listen. ‘Doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task,’ Professor Andrade suggests.
The bad
It triggers depression
An American study found that boredom was linked to low mood. Psychologists at Harvard University tracked the mental states of more than 2,000 people with the help of a mood-tracking iPhone app called Track Your Happiness.
Their results, published in the journal Science, revealed that those who were able to stay focused on a specific task were usually much happier than those who let their minds wander through boredom.
It makes you eat junk
One in four office workers complaining of ‘chronic boredom’ turn to coffee and chocolate to lighten their day, according to a study by psychologist Dr Sandi Mann at the University of Lancashire.
Bored office workers are also more likely to have an alcoholic drink after work.
It’s bad for your heart
People who complain of high levels of boredom are two-and-a-half times more likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those who are satisfied with their lot, researchers at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London reported two years ago.
Over time, this leads to weight gain and other risk factors for heart disease.
Epidemiologist Martin Shipley says: ‘People who have dull jobs should find outside interests to keep boredom at bay.’
It increases infections
People who are bored by their job are more prone to ‘underload’ syndrome — the term for a collection of symptoms including depression, headaches, fatigue and recurrent infections.
© Daily Mail, London
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