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Out of My Skull
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Harvard University Press
鈥淒rab routine has begun,鈥� wrote the Russian cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev, just one week into his seven-month stint aboard the Salyut 7 space station in May 1982. Far from marvelling at the final frontier, Lebedev鈥檚 diary dwells on the crushing monotony and his sense of isolation. 鈥淓verything is down on Earth,鈥� he lamented.
There are unmistakable parallels with living through a pandemic. Repetition, constraint and a sense of purposelessness 鈥� key factors that lead to boredom 鈥� are prominent in life under lockdown. Out of My Skull: The psychology of boredom brings together decades of research to make sense of this state, one that is familiar but widely misunderstood.
The authors explain that boredom doesn鈥檛 affect everybody equally. People who try harder to avoid uncomfortable feelings report feeling bored more often, as do those who struggle with self-regulation. Others experience boredom, but are better at dealing with it quickly and effectively.
Difficulties arise when we try to fight the unpleasant feeling or when we try to distract ourselves with activities that fail to really satisfy, such as mindlessly scrolling social media, say the authors. Seeing ourselves as waiting passively to be entertained undermines our sense of agency, potentially making our problems with boredom chronic. 鈥淭he solution must come from within us,鈥� they write.
