• Question: Why Do people Get Bored

    Asked by limey5298 to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Jenni Tilley

      Jenni Tilley answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I think it depends if you’re finding something interesting or not, whether it’s new to you, and how good you are at focussing on thing.

      I’m a major multitasker – I’m rubbish at focussing on one thing (I find it boring) so try to do lots of things at once. I’m currently analysing some images, planning my outfit for a dinner this evening, and answering some questions on here, whilst keeping an eye on the news. Not sure how great it is for my productivity….

      Luckily, my degree allows me to focus on lots of things because my research is multidisciplinary – I work with surgeons, engineers, materials scientists, biochemists and chemists – so I never have a chance to get bored!

    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      People mostly get bored with things that don’t mean much to them, as this doesn’t motivate them and then they don’t enjoy it or put much effort in. If you enjoy something you notice that time flies by – if I am working out on the weights machines at the gym I find it a bit boring as I am by myself and I am tempted to just skip some reps and finish early. But if I do a muay-thai class or spinning, the time goes so quickly plus I have usually put more effort in too (probably as I am a bit competitive so being around other people motivates me to work harder).

      Athletes can start to feel a bit stale or bored of the training: bear in mind that actual competitions, which are the fun part, don’t take up very much time at all, compared with daily training every morning before work/school, every evening and most weekends. One of the things I am often asked to help athletes with is keeping motivated, or interested in, training. We usually work on setting lots of goals, even goals for one training session, to make that training session interesting and challenging.

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