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I have ADHD. Being bored is simply.. not something that happens naturally. I have a zillion unfinished things, too many hobbies, too many games, too much work t

by jb_s 5y ago

I have ADHD. Being bored is simply.. not something that happens naturally. I have a zillion unfinished things, too many hobbies, too many games, too much work that I was supposed finish yesterday. My brain gets filled with all of this junk every day. As the day passes my thoughts progressively get more and more cluttered and noisy, like I've got every radio station on at the same time. I also get really anxious if I've blown past a few too many deadlines, which compounds the issue immensely. The only way to fix it... is to make myself bored. To FORCE myself to be bored. I sit on the ground with my legs crossed, close my eyes, and slowly count down from 60, 120, 180.. while shoving all the other thoughts out of my brain. It's like meditation, but meditation apps are a bit too interesting. I get distracted over how utterly weird they are. Eventually, interspersed with all the intrusive thoughts and stressful shit ricocheting around, I start feeling a few brief twinges of boredom. If I'm really worked up it might take 10-15 minutes for these to take hold, finalling boring myself into calmness - at which point my shitty brain has stopped spazzing out and I can go back to getting shit done. If you're neurotypical you can probably just put the phone away and go for a fucking walk. It will let your default mode network do its usual thing for a while, like it's designed to.

porknubbins 5y ago
I used to try to go for walks in the city and it was no relief from overstimulation at all. Aside from the need to be alert for threats you see or hear something like every block that distracts you. Then I moved to an older suburban neightborhood and walks were super boring for the first few months until I really learned to look at things. Now I can go an hour just like enjoying looking at the sky, grass and trees etc. I still bring my headphones by habit but its been months since I pulled them out and its extremely restorative for creativity.
- Shocka1 5y ago
  I feel ya here. My family has owned a couple nice parcels of rural property for years and I just kind of took it for granted. A few years ago I read The Overstory by Richard Powers and it really fired up my interest in nature and trees. I can't walk anymore without trying to identify every tree in the woods. It's humbling how much longer some of the older ones have been on this earth than we have - several of the very large white oaks in my dad's woods would have witnessed Native Americans. I'm in my 30s now and can't get enough of being in the woods or mountains, bow hunting, walking, or whatever, especially in the fall and winter seasons. I'd take a day in nature over any other hobby at this point.
arc619 5y ago
I do what you described too. I think of it as neural degaussing.
alfor 5y ago
Have you tried meditation the Naval way. No nothing, just breathe if you need to and letting go of thought, action, feeling. A am a bit ADHD too, I really relate to the hobbies, games and projects. I my case, it’s youtube lately that sink the most time.

by jb_s 5y ago

porknubbins 5y ago

I used to try to go for walks in the city and it was no relief from overstimulation at all. Aside from the need to be alert for threats you see or hear something like every block that distracts you. Then I moved to an older suburban neightborhood and walks were super boring for the first few months until I really learned to look at things. Now I can go an hour just like enjoying looking at the sky, grass and trees etc. I still bring my headphones by habit but its been months since I pulled them out and its extremely restorative for creativity.

Shocka1 5y ago
I feel ya here. My family has owned a couple nice parcels of rural property for years and I just kind of took it for granted. A few years ago I read The Overstory by Richard Powers and it really fired up my interest in nature and trees. I can't walk anymore without trying to identify every tree in the woods. It's humbling how much longer some of the older ones have been on this earth than we have - several of the very large white oaks in my dad's woods would have witnessed Native Americans. I'm in my 30s now and can't get enough of being in the woods or mountains, bow hunting, walking, or whatever, especially in the fall and winter seasons. I'd take a day in nature over any other hobby at this point.

arc619 5y ago

I do what you described too. I think of it as neural degaussing.

alfor 5y ago

Have you tried meditation the Naval way. No nothing, just breathe if you need to and letting go of thought, action, feeling. A am a bit ADHD too, I really relate to the hobbies, games and projects. I my case, it’s youtube lately that sink the most time.