Page 1 of 1 [ 10 posts ] 

MindBlind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 May 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,341

12 Jun 2017, 2:54 pm

To anyone here that struggles with tolerating boredom, whether you have ADHD or not, I need some advice. I procrastinate a lot. A heck of a lot. Sometimes it's because I'm anxious about failure but if I'm honest, sometimes I'm just bored out of my mind. I'm incredibly impatient and easily put off if something doesn't really appeal to me. It sounds dramatic but it physically pains me to wait for the boring task to end. I try to flood my brain with as much stimuli as possible to offset the boredom which ends up distracting me away from the task at hand. It's why I struggle to commit to finishing projects or even books. Seriously, I won't even finish the first page of a book if I don't like the name of a character - that's how bad it gets. As soon as it feels like a chore to do something I find myself repulsed by it, even if it's just one aspect of it or even something I need to do.

Are there any ways I can become more accustomed to boredom? I try to make boring tasks fun but surely there are ways of building that tolerance within me? I'm wondering if I can apply exposure therapy techniques to my boredom issues because it's probably as much a psychological/cognitive issue as it is a neurological issue. Perhaps slowly changing this bad habit can help me learn to tolerate boredom and frustration better?

Has anyone here used similar techniques or do you have a different solution that you've tried? I'd really like to know because that would be really interesting. I'm planning on bringing this up to my occupational therapist next time I see her. Seems like we can make this work.



statsattack
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 3 Jun 2017
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
Location: Long Grove, IL

16 Jun 2017, 9:51 pm

What I do now is Wikipedia or cliff notes a book or movie before I read/ watch it. By doing that it takes away being anxious of what will happen and I can just focus on it



MindBlind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 May 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,341

18 Jun 2017, 1:10 pm

statsattack wrote:
What I do now is Wikipedia or cliff notes a book or movie before I read/ watch it. By doing that it takes away being anxious of what will happen and I can just focus on it


I don't get anxious if I don't know what's going to happen in a book or a movie or whatever. What I struggle with is sustaining my attention on something if I find it boring. Of course everyone does but for me I find it nearly impossible to tolerate boredom and the resulting anxiety is due to the fact that I can't get the thing finished in time. That and I get frustrated because the info just isn't sinking in because it's just not interesting enough for my brain to care. Even if I need to know the info and even if not knowing the info will result in something terrible in the future I struggle to do it, still.

I want to teach myself how to tolerate boredom and other unpleasant tasks because I'm running out of ways to make boring activities more fun.



nick007
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 May 2010
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,059
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in the police state called USA

20 Jun 2017, 5:42 am

Perhaps AD(H)D medication like Strattera or a stimulant would help alittle


_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
~King Of The Hill


"Hear all, trust nothing"
~Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #190
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition


MindBlind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 May 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,341

22 Jun 2017, 3:20 pm

nick007 wrote:
Perhaps AD(H)D medication like Strattera or a stimulant would help alittle


I take Concerta XL and its definitely made a difference. Obviously it's not a cure but even my family have noticed I'm a lot better on it. Still, the boredom avoidance is still an issue. It might even be more of an anxiety issue. All signs point to behavioural modification as a solution to this, so I wonder what helps for others in my position.



CharityGoodyGrace
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Nov 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,124

14 Jul 2017, 4:39 am

Try a stimulating job or course with a lot of action! I can SO relate to this. Read stuff full of action, watch movies full of action, listen to stimulating music, talk to people (while walking or dancing at a party if need be). Do sports. Do exercise. Drink coffee or tea... preferably coffee; it works better. Make plans that are so exciting you can actually concentrate on them.



Thelonelyroamer
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 26 Jul 2017
Gender: Male
Posts: 6
Location: That place in space

27 Jul 2017, 7:59 pm

Omg! The very first post of this topic is me all the way. I cant seem to really focus on things and the older i get the worse it is. If im not interested in what i have in front of me i zone out completely, especially if im talking to people and i have alot on my mind i wont be able to really react normally..more like "oh really" " ya thats cool" just out of habit and not even paying attention unless im really interested in what we are talking about...like as soon as someone brings up sports...im no longer with you..please just leave me alone..lol. i try to be more understanding about my problem because i also have Tourette syndrome and mixed with adhd is one hell of a show on a really bad day. Usually when im upset or anxious...ive controlled that part of my life mostly to forcing myself to not react to my sudden desire for having to move my arm in a certain way or twitch my eyes or whatever it is sometimes i feel i need to stop and refocus so im not overwhelmed by my actions. I can be interested in one thing and if im destracted by someone trting to talk to me while im really trying to do something after motivating myself to go outside and work out...i lose that desire and sometimes im thinking like "will you please be quite so i can do what ive been trying to do" once thrown off it may take me awhile to even care to get back on track...thats on my bad days. But good days i try one writing down goals and talking myswlf threw them and thinking in ways like ive already done them so as it may help me to get them done. I can only watch so many flash episodes in 1 sitting before im like feeling i waisted my time. Or start cleaning and if im not really focusing on task at hand i tend to look at almost anything else and try doing that, then walk into garage and see something needed put somewhere." Oh that will look nice on the wall" and now what i was doing is pushed to some other time if done at all. So hard. I dont take medication and refuse because side effects and its all for money. If i can find a natural remedy im ok with that. I wont help pharmaceutical companies to get rich although they help certain areas of life. Most know nothing about natural remedies and cures so they rely on others which is dangerous because thebside effect may make everything worse or you may obtain a habit and cant function without it..besides un natural side effects. But ive learned to live with it as hard as it may be. Im glad im not alone but i hate that others have to live this way aswell.



BettaPonic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 2 Jan 2017
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Posts: 918
Location: NOVA

27 Jul 2017, 9:20 pm

I think when I am bored. I spend four or five hours walking a day. I just think about the future, my hobbies, remember stuff, ect.



Noca
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 May 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,932
Location: Canada

27 Jul 2017, 9:24 pm

There is one member on WP who has an avatar with a light switch that reads something like "utterly obsessed" for the on position and "totally uninterested" for the off position. That about sums up my motivation problems. Either I am utterlly obsssesd about a topic or I can't get past the first page of a book because I can't be interested in the slightest.



shortfatbalduglyman
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Mar 2017
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,709

27 Jul 2017, 9:46 pm

BettaPonic wrote:
I think when I am bored. I spend four or five hours walking a day. I just think about the future, my hobbies, remember stuff, ect.

_________________________________________________________________________

yeah i walk and think a lot too. but sometimes i wish i could just stop thinking.

after all i ain't got no future. thinking won't change that.

and i ain't got no hobbies.

remembering stuff serves a function, in some situations.

but, the rest of the time it is more practical to silently recite the mantra "here and now" and make myself pay attention to what is here and now. instead of :mrgreen: then and there :skull: .

13 years ago, 500 miles away. "and a partridge in a pear tree."

can't get a job. :arrow: no job skills. socially awkward. emotionally fragile. academically stupid. vocationally incompetent. :nerdy: but of course that's not why i ain't got no job. b/c plenty of precious lil "people" with the same weaknesses as me got jobs. and many earn more than minimum wage.

the licensed clinical social worker. the most recent one. seriously. all she knew how to do was flap her trap. it took so much energy to interact with her that it wasn't worth it. and she acted like it was reasonable for me to just blindly believe everything she told me.

yeah and i did not like it when she said "huh" and "what" instead of "excuse me". and she had the nerve to interrupt me.