Unsplash | Jess Bailey
One of my least favorite feelings? Boredom.
When boredom happens, I do what I can to get rid of it.
Some people say boredom is good as it forces you to be creative with your time.
However, in the age of technology and the world at our fingertips, we aren't always channeling that boredom into creativity.
A lot of times we channel our boredom into scrolling or going down the rabbit hole of social media.
Often, it happens that we are looking at things we don't really care about or don't add value to our life. We will just look for anything and everything that could stimulate us and counteract the boredom.
Whenever there is a season where it gets colder, there isn't as much going on, or you're stuck at home, a little more boredom kicks in than usual.
How can we channel boredom into creativity? How can we channel the boredom into things we care about and are going to add value to our lives?
A project or hobby.
I love a good project or hobby and I love supporting people in theirs.
I started getting into projects and hobbies right after college. I felt I had this new sense of time on my hands and I knew I wanted to do something with it. So, I jumped into projects.
In the past 2.5 years, I have started a podcast, a blog, yoga teacher training, and have a few more things coming down the pipeline.
I've found these projects to be fulfilling and made me enjoy not just the project, but even the other parts of my life more.
I've gotten asked a lot of questions around how we can find these projects or hobbies.
My initial answer is the projects I pursued just came to me. However, looking back to when I started projects, they wouldn't have been possible to find without a few key things.
Here are 4 things that led me to the projects I wanted to pursue.
Realized what I loved and kept doing that.
I think a lot of times in order to pursue a project or hobby, we feel like we have to do something completely new. When really the project or hobby could be something we are already doing.
I started paying attention to what I loved and kept doing it. Eventually, something bigger evolved from the things I was already doing.
I was obsessed with podcasts and listened to them everyday. I ended up starting my own podcast. I loved writing and journals. I ended up starting a blog. I loved yoga and connecting the mind and body together. I decided to sign up for yoga teacher training.
We can take what we already love and already doing, and scale it up.
Started paying attention to what wasn't bringing me fulfillment & stopped doing that.
Sometimes we need to get rid of the old in order to bring in the new.
I realized that in order to have time to explore and pursue these projects and hobbies, I needed to get rid of the things that were in my way. There were things I was doing that weren't fulfilling and taking time away from something, like a project or hobby, that could be fulfilling.
I was someone who, and still am sometimes, uses excessive social media scrolling or Netflix watching to stimulate me. Don't get me wrong, I love both social media and Netflix, but an excessive amount isn't very fulfilling to me. I had to challenge myself to channel my boredom towards something more creative and fulfilling (which was not easy btw as these platforms are meant to be addictive).
We can challenge ourselves to take the things that aren't serving us and replace it with a project or hobby that is more fulfilling.
Gave myself permission to reinvent myself.
If we want to be something new or different, we have to do something new or different.
Before I started working on my first project, I told myself I was allowed to do something I haven't done before. Anything was possible.
This was key as sometimes we don't pursue projects because we don't feel like they're "us" or that people will think they're weird.
Each day, we can wake up and do whatever you want to do and be whatever you want to be. So much so that each day can be a new project or hobby.
Opened my eyes, ears, mind, and heart to new things.
Are you walking around with a closed heart or open heart?
In order to find new projects and hobbies, you have to walk around with open eyes, ears, mind, and heart. If you don't, you will only see, hear, think, and feel the things you did before and nothing new.
Being open allows you to receive the signs and clarity on what you're to pursue.
Most of the time, the clarity comes when you least expect.
Boredom can be hard and frustrating. It can be challenging to get rid of or even channel the way we want to.
It can take time, energy, and resiliency.
I've found that it is all worth it because we all have a project or hobby to offer the world.
What's yours going to be?
