How do you act to rid yourself of boredom?

How do you act to rid yourself of boredom?

Imagine that you woke up on the first day of a long-awaited vacation, enjoying a pleasant breakfast, taking a stroll on the beach, and reading up on news and funny stories over coffee.

So things are off to a great start, and you feel happy and relaxed - just as you expected when you booked the flight, but by late afternoon, you might start to get completely bored!

Boredom is a common condition

According to a report published by "Psychology Today", there is no reason to be alarmed because it is a common condition that many face, as it turns out that obtaining unlimited free time is not always as incredible as some expect. For example, retirees imagine how happy they will be when they quit their jobs in exchange for unlimited trips, picnics, and reading novels while lounging on the beach.

Lack of a sense of productivity

But the reality of the matter is that many retirees enjoy their free time at first, only to realize, weeks later, that they really miss the job they left behind that provided them with a sense of productivity, purpose, and meaning to their lives. On the other hand, being busy with work and other productive obligations from sunrise to sunset can cause stress and tension and thus reduce the feeling of happiness, prompting the question of how much optimal free time can lead to happiness?

Three main points

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2021, researchers sought an answer to this question by surveying tens of thousands of participants and collecting data on how they spend free time and how happy they feel. The results of the study revealed three main points:

1. Spending less than two hours of free time a day causes a lot of stress, which affects the feeling of happiness. After looking at the data, the research team concluded that getting less than two hours a day of free time was not enough to feel happy. Participants, who had no more than two estimated hours of free time per day, reported increased stress, meaning they were simply too busy with work, errands, childcare, or other matters to maximize their happiness.

2. Spending more than 5 hours of free time per day leads to a lack of productivity, which reduces happiness. Surprisingly, having a lot of free time is not the password to enter the world of happiness, as people derive a certain sense of happiness from being productive and getting things done and/or achieving goals, and that sense of joy fades away when one spends all day relaxing on the beach or watching movies on a deck at home, while there is certainly a time and place to spend a whole day relaxing, having an abundance of leisure time undermines Happiness out of boredom.

3. The researchers concluded that there are two important aspects when it comes to how to spend quality free time. First, when free time is used in more productive ways, such as playing a team sport or volunteering for a social charity, five or more hours a day can maintain happiness. or even reinforce it.

The other side is that there is a similar positive effect of communicating with others during free time, especially since a person spending five or more hours of free time alone can hinder his feeling of happiness.

More than two hours and less than five

According to a study conducted by researchers John Kelly and Joe Ross of the University of Illinois in 1989, retirees, who volunteer in charitable social activities or join clubs, are happier and that vacations are taken with the right balance of stimulation such as hiking, diving or organizing. Tours and relaxation make people feel happier.

Surprisingly, the results of studies have shown that more leisure time relaxation is not always a better option, and having two hours or less of free time per day is a very small amount, while five or more hours of free time per day has been shown to be more than necessary, and between more than two hours and less than five hours can be an appropriate amount.

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