Whilst listening to a recent episode of Modern Wisdom, the topic of boredom came up. As with many things in my life, this conversation arrived exactly at the right time. I’m not sure if the universe talks to be or this is some kind of frequency illusion, but it happens quite a lot for me. Anyway, the short but sweet conversation got me thinking, and this post is a result of those thoughts.

“Just to round out the boredom thing, it feels to me like if you don’t have something to take up your time, your habits, and your behaviour will sort of default to the path of least resistance.” — Modern Wisdom: #894, 25 Jan 2025

These thoughts are obviously affected by my current mental state, which is not the greatest it has ever been. I have a very busy task list currently yet find myself constantly unmotivated to do anything outside of work. Defaulting instead to spending too much time online. If you’ve read just a few of my posts before, you’ll know I absolutely hate that!

So the quote above finds me at a particular point where it reflects my life currently. I follow the path of least resistance, which unfortunately is the supercomputer in my pocket, only too willing to hover up my time and attention. It’s easier to pluck my phone from my pocket than it is to open a book to read, or write a blog post I’m working on.

Not only in terms of effort but also in terms of return. I can ignore the world around me much easier, scrolling social media than I can reading a book. I’m self-medicating my way out of the boredom feeling, and that’s not something I have usually struggled with.

Perhaps I’m burnt out. Perhaps I’m struggling with other underlying problems, but currently I am so bored with being busy that motivation for needed tasks is non-existent. There’s some work to do here to ensure these habits do not get out of control, and thankfully, listening to other people’s thoughts on topics makes me aware of the work that needs to be done on myself.