Isn’t it tiring when your daily routine has become uninspiring and boring? When the things you do on a daily basis are repetitive and trivial annoyances become even more frustrating?
By all means, life cannot always be full of frolics and fiddle-de-dees. And sometimes a bit of a routine is exactly what is needed to calm things down or to get stuff done. But too much of this, where the day repeats itself and the radius of new, unexpected, inspiring elements is stagnant, is not a healthy place to be in.
My client has taken her unwanted boredom apart (I’m publishing this with her permission). Her daily routine involves stressful mornings getting the kids dressed and out of the house, a messy kitchen she needs to clean followed by cooking and cleaning all over again, staring at unresolved bits and bobs that have been sitting there for months, negative emotions towards her work and actually doing her work, and more school runs followed by moody children seeking attention for the rest of the day.
She has a full list of things she could be doing about it, to break the chain of this unsatisfying routine. But for some reason, she is (and perhaps chooses to be) stuck in procrastination and inaction.
If my client’s feelings were described as a metaphor, she is spending most of her day in a small bunker. What she needs is a ladder to climb out, step after step.
If you can relate, here is one approach of what the steps could entail.
Step 1: Restoring mental well-being
What are the elements that are essential to your mental well-being? What do you know will help you to restore a more positive and stable mindset?
In my client’s case, this includes structure and planning ahead, regular physical activity and time for herself. She has evidence from past experience that those kinds of activities will calm down the negative mindset and transport her to a positive place.
Step 2: Clearing out overwhelm
What is on the list of things that you could be doing to get out of the boredom? And which out of these things can be removed?
The fact that my client has a whole list of ideas of things she could be doing suggests that she may have too many things on her mind and doesn’t know what to focus on. So this step is about decluttering the mind and reducing the overwhelm, first by reviewing each thing and checking if it is feasible and actually wanted.
Step 3: Prioritise
What on the list has heart and meaning?
This is the step that will create change and destruct the unwanted boredom. It is about taking one of the things on the list to the front burner and testing it out. It should be small and achievable, to avoid falling back into the trap again.
This order doesn’t fit everyone and the steps involved to escape this dark place will be different in every case. But the concept of a step ladder can be adapted to many situations and is a great self-help tool that everyone should have in their tool box.
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