As we enter a period of renewal and change, Your Clear Next Step is committed to helping our customers make their businesses and workdays even better. We will be here to walk beside you, to listen, to connect, and to aid in your search for clarity. In doing so, we are offering a free, daily Zoom call, called Daily Connections, at 1:15pm (CDT) every weekday from 3/19/2020-5/1/2020.
These calls are a chance for us to share tips and discussion about relevant topics (working remotely, maintaining consistency in uncertain times, building relationships across geography, staying motivated, staying connected, etc) and network with each other to provide help and support during this time of change.
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us today! The next call will be Monday, April 6th at 1:15pm (CDT). Click here to join.
On today's call...
Sinikka shared a few tips about busting boredom.
Weekends are taking a new shape and a new feel for us right now – and maybe evenings and even some portion of the day too as we find ourselves bound at home, with most states in the US declaring shelter in place restrictions.
So I spent a little time digging into what causes boredom and how to respond to it.
What causes it seems to be a variety of things, with themes around lack of variety, something that can’t really be defined, and a lack of personal self-management skills; responses seem to include both “preventing it” and “coping with it”.
- Don’t let yourself call it bored – turn it actively to curiosity, meditation, or something not boredom.
- Create variety – change of scenery, change of location
- Leverage it as a trigger – clean something, plant something, empty something, do those things you’ve been putting off
- Shift your focus to someone else – use it as a chance to volunteer, to serve
Here were some ideas and questions shared by the group:
- “If you have time to lean you have time to clean”
- Dig deeper into your boredom. Are you really bored? Or are you maybe lonely? Or are you stressed? or anxious?
- Reaching out and texting or calling a friend is a great way to bust boredom and make connections in this time.
- Try finding a different kind of music, or a different tempo of music to listen to and help change things up.
- Go room to room (and even walk around outside your house) and make a list of all the tasks you might have been avoiding.
- I haven't really found myself to be bored yet and I think it’s because I've been finding myself working on a bunch of projects around the house.
- When you talked about shifting your focus to someone else, we threw a welcome home social distancing parade for a friend who just got home from being in the hospital for some time and it was one of the greatest things that I've experienced in the last couple weeks.
- I normally associate the word boredom with “lazy” so I've actually tried to give myself some grace and be a little lazy, but I've also been thinking while I’m working in my office about the things I would like to do when I’m done with work.
- I think often boredom is just a lack of interest or low energy, so I think it can be pretty easy to solve by just taking a quick walk or doodling. I think it’s a decision to not pursue anything.
- I normally associate the word boredom with “lazy” so I've actually tried to give myself some grace and be a little lazy, but I've also been thinking while I’m working in my office about the things I would like to do when I’m done with work.
- I think often boredom is just a lack of interest or low energy, so I think it can be pretty easy to solve by just taking a quick walk or doodling. I think it’s a decision to not pursue anything.
- For me it’s not boredom it’s just loneliness. So not being able to have that human connection is very difficult for me.
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