![]() ![]() Instead of viewing a mundane task as unimportant, it’s wise to approach it from a different angle. But a week and your hamper might say otherwise. That might be true if you leave your laundry for a day or two. There are those people who like to excuse doing a mundane task by simply saying to themselves it’s not that important. Simply admitting that a task needs to be done is the first step to doing it. The same is true when it comes to mundane tasks. The first of which is admitting they have a problem. ![]() In AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), there is a 12-step program that they use to rehabilitate addicts. Most important: always have something good to read!Ī version of this post originally appeared on Gretchen Rubin’s website, where she writes about her experiments in the pursuit of happiness and good habits.⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ My resolution to Put myself in jail is helpful. Now, when I have to make sense of something that’s both boring and bewildering, I deliberately slow myself down and take all the time I need. This makes things worse, though, not better, because I feel not only bored, but also impatient and confused. I realize that when information bores me, like trying to understand a change-of-service notice from the cable company, I try to rush through it. Or maybe review photos of your kids on your phone studies show that looking at photos of loved ones provides a big mood boost. Think about something delightful or uplifting (not your to-do list!). What are people wearing, what do the interiors of buildings look like, what noises do you hear? If you bring your analytical powers to bear, you can make almost anything interesting. – Take the perspective of a journalist or scientist. The same principle holds when doing boring or irritating tasks, like washing dishes. – I read a whole book about it, and then it becomes absorbing. In my life, I’ve found that if part of my research isn’t interesting to me - for example, studying the Dardanelles campaign for Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill. Eventually you discover that it’s not boring at all. If it’s still boring, do it for eight minutes, then sixteen, and so on. – Dig in.ĭiane Arbus wrote, “The Chinese have a theory that you pass through boredom into fascination and I think it’s true.” If something is boring for two minutes, do it for four minutes. ![]() ![]() (This is my invention.) If you’re standing in a slow line at the drugstore, you’re doing “Waiting in line meditation.” If you’re cleaning up after a party, you’re doing “Cleaning meditation.” Just saying these words makes me feel very spiritual and high-minded and wise. – Put the word “meditation” after the activity that’s boring you. Here are six strategies I use to “re-frame” the moment even if I can’t escape a situation, by re-framing my emotions about it, I can transform it. I’ve found that the more I focus on my boredom or irritation, the more I amplify that feeling. Waiting in a long line at the grocery store. One “little thing” that can be a source of unhappiness is boredom. Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.” Little things make us happy, and little things can drag us down. ![]()
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