Boredom

[Coolydudey]

Laziness has been apparent to me on this forum through many, many posts. But no-one seems to share the Extreme boredom I get in my life. I might be wrong on this, that's why I'm posting, and I might also have misinterpreted what people have posted, but I'll give you some personal examples. Someone told me they heard the words "I'm bored" from me more times in the last six months I knew her, than she had heard them in her life up to then (she's 29). Furthermore, there is not a single person I know (apart from friends, not family), that doesn't hate me to some extent for my boredom (and sometimes it annoys my friends a little too). Often, when doing work, I will melt onto the floor (!!) and just lie there for 5 minutes before even being bothered to get up.
..?

 

[Suraj]

We're bored with pretty much everything external, and only care to observe sensory facts that can help improve our knowledge of whichever system we're trying to understand.

I'm bored in almost every social situation I find myself in, excluding those that involve others with similar interests to my own. I was bored out of my mind at the fraternity earlier while everyone else was energized in figuring out our living situation for next year (deciding on rooms/roommates, which I really don't care about), but was quite engaged in a discussion my friends were having on MBTI afterward - I even had the book handy.

To any INTP struggling with boredom, all I can say is figure out what you 1) understand best and 2) have the most drive to understand. Find your passion, master it, and hopefully good, tangible results will follow.

 

[Pizzabeak]

Sometimes when I get bored - I seem to be able to sense the change - I'll go from a non-talkative mood to a "playful", sort of annoying one. Makes things a little more exciting.
Also, I hate the word 'boring'

 

[snafupants]

Hopelessly dim-witted and prodigiously smart people are more prone to boredom than the herd.

 

[Minuend]

Well, if you keep nagging your friends about being bored, I can understand why that's annoying.

There are a million books to read, tons of series, movies to watch. Countless random information on teh interwebz to take in. Drawing, writing, gaming, thinking, listening to music. There are thousands of activities you can do outside, depending on where you live- all from bowling to building a treehouse or go swimming. Exercising, climbing, unicycling, drinking, photographing.

Your creativity is the limit. The creative never bores, start practising it!

 

[intpz]

Pizzabeak - you mean being more smart-ass than you usually are? Same here, if the situation allows me to do that without hard consequences. Good thing though, I don't have much social interaction.

 

[lungs]

it seems like a major theme in my life lately is struggling against constant boredom. and not being particularly successful because i'm not that social and i'm kind of broke. my brain is kind of mush a lot of the time from lack of stimulation and it feels like trying to break down a wall.

ennui is probably a better word in my case.

 

[CLOfriendOSE]

I find that boredom correlates to the lack of a sufficient creative/expressive outlet.

I also find that saying "I'm bored" is annoying and counterproductive. Why waste your time, an other's, with a statement that reinforces te psychological state you are seemingly trying to remedy? Take time to introvert and propose a solution, or at least explain what exactly it is about the situation that "bores" you.

If you constantly tell people that you are bored, they will start hearing "Entertain me!" which can be very offputting.

Suggestions:
-replace "I'm bored" with "I'm seeking a different kind of stimulation"
-take up art (visual, musical, dance)
-take up yoga/ breathing exercises (a lot can be done wherever you are - staying in heightened states of consciousness helps reduce boredom)
-Stop and smell the roses. By that, I mean exercises your ability to view perspective. Every object is infinitely complicated (in all directions).
-Keep a journal, identify which activities note you and why, then write a self help book for people dealing with boredom.

 

[kora]

I'm so bored all the time, alcohol is a good cure.

 

[lungs]

I'm so bored all the time, alcohol is a good cure.

heh, yeah, alcohol helps. not a great habit to get into though

 

[Coolydudey]

This is hilarious... (well, in some ways). Anyway, I'm not looking for a way to cure my boredom, it can't be done for the time being (long story). On the flipside, don't you have some of your most interesting thoughts when you're bored?

 

[kora]

Does anyone ever get to the point when they're bored of their own thoughts? It's torture! Your own thought trail bores you. And it won't SWITCH THE FUCK OFF!!! Ahem...Sorry, I'm calm now.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Everything else has been said, all I can say is that it makes those rare moments of energized stimulation that much more stimulating.

 

[lungs]

This is hilarious... (well, in some ways). Anyway, I'm not looking for a way to cure my boredom, it can't be done for the time being (long story). On the flipside, don't you have some of your most interesting thoughts when you're bored?

nope. the opposite. i'm bored because i'm boring. ):

if i had interesting thoughts when i was bored, then i could use those thoughts to come up with things to do, or as creative stimulus to write something or produce art, or find someone and have a stimulating conversation.

the fact that i've been having trouble firing up interesting thoughts is precisely WHY i'm bored.

 

[Coolydudey]

nope. the opposite. i'm bored because i'm boring. ):

if i had interesting thoughts when i was bored, then i could use those thoughts to come up with things to do, or as creative stimulus to write something or produce art, or find someone and have a stimulating conversation.

the fact that i've been having trouble firing up interesting thoughts is precisely WHY i'm bored.

Well, I get bored of what I'm doing so I go into these wild daydreams/thought processes that can lead to me getting even more bored of what I'm doing... But they are nonetheless interesting (or you might recognise it later).

Someone else said that he gets bored of his thoughts... Beat a friend of mine: "I am often bored to scratch my head, so I wait till it goes away"!!

 

[MissQuote]

Yeah.

http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=12755

 

[nexion]

Boredom leads to thinking. Sometimes thinking isn't so good for a person.

 

[Pizzabeak]

Pizzabeak - you mean being more smart-ass than you usually are? Same here, if the situation allows me to do that without hard consequences. Good thing though, I don't have much social interaction.

Yes.

 

[CLOfriendOSE]

Wait.

Is this really boredom? Or is it depression?

Either way - take up a contemplative practice (maybe try Kundalini Yoga - yoga of the breath -> uses breath to help relieve anxiety and provide greater energy/ really increases circulation/has a more contemplative/philosophical focus than many of Western yoga practices).

It sounds like you're bored of your physical body. I think a lot of INTPs go through this.

 

[Teax]

I doubt this is depression. The source of the hyperboredom(for lack of a better word) might be the insight into existential pointlessness, which INTPs most have an affinity for (based on their functional stack).

Those who watched Darker Than Black: this hyperboredom is like an INTP's contract - payment for using the hyperconcentration mode.


The trick is not to waste the special move on banalities, then the kickback won't be as unpleasant Hyperboredom is a force that is powerful enough to disengage the INTP from addiction - especially once the activity has been analyzed. If tamed, it can prove a great potential power in its own right. Like a rope when bungeejumping, allowing for "plunging into" safe exploration of the most exotic and psychically dangerous paths and remain sane enough to tell about it. This is just a suggestion for an alternative approach rather than curing it.

I observed NTJs to be the opposite, ever-sinking into activity, endlessly enjoying refining their skill beyond any point where they could pull themselves out of the addiction of the game, even when they want it. There might be a correlation. In any case I'm glad to be on "this side of the fence".

 

[QuickTwist]

I'm always board. That's why I am so addicted to stimulants I think. I haven't done cocaine because I know that that would cause me to be so hopelessly addicted that I would sooner die than quit.