{"id":896,"date":"2009-01-29T10:00:25","date_gmt":"2009-01-29T17:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:26:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T15:26:01","slug":"the-evils-of-partial-boredom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evils of Partial Boredom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two days ago, I argued that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/27\/boredom-is-the-enemy\/\">boredom is the enemy<\/a> of success and productivity. Instead of trying to discipline yourself to push through boredom, you should be eliminating it all together. Boredom often masks a deeper fear of failure and risk that forces you to lead a safe, but uninteresting life.<\/p>\n<p>One reader, however, pointed out the value of temporary boredom. Forcing yourself to be temporarily bored, can push you to take more creative and interesting actions. I completely agree. My article was a war against chronic boredom, the dull pain of a dull life. But acute boredom, can actually be useful if it pushes you to engage in truly worthwhile pursuits.<\/p>\n<h2>Half-Boring Pursuits<\/h2>\n<p>Watching television that you aren\u2019t interested in is a half-boring pursuit. It isn\u2019t interesting, but it also isn\u2019t completely boring. It is, for example, more enjoyable than staring at a wall for hours. However, by removing some of the boredom, it also prevents you from engaging in pursuits that you actually care about.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, actually staring at the wall and not watching television might be more valuable. By facing complete and total boredom, you have more incentive to stop and do more interesting things.<\/p>\n<p>Working at a so-so job doesn\u2019t give you pressure to find better work. Working at a job you truly hate, or being completely unemployed creates a vacuum in your life strong enough to demand action. Finding truly interesting pursuits often means, in the short-term, trading half-boredom for complete boredom.<\/p>\n<h2>Eliminating Distractions<\/h2>\n<p>Every few months I go on some type of distraction purge. Just a month ago, I committed to limiting my internet and email usage to only 45 minutes a day. In the past, I\u2019ve done similar purges on television watching or computer games. I stick with the change for a month, after which I usually switch back to a more moderate level of usage.<\/p>\n<p>The first noticeable thing when you take on one of these trials is the complete and utter boredom. If you\u2019re used to watching 2-3 hours of television a day and it\u2019s suddenly eliminated you aren\u2019t sure what to do with your free time. This boredom isn\u2019t chronic, evil boredom, but the acute boredom that forces you to rethink how you spend your time.<\/p>\n<p>Taking on trials like these open up your schedule, and often result in seeking more interesting ways to fill the gap. Using time I freed up with these methods encouraged me to join Toastmasters, take dancing classes and read more books. Once the trial finishes, the new, more interesting, activities stick and the old ones get dropped.<\/p>\n<h2>Go from Partial to Complete Boredom<\/h2>\n<p>Partial boredom is similar to the mathematical concept of a local maximum. A local maximum is like a small hill next to a mountain. In order to climb higher, you first need to climb down. And often the way to go from partial boredom to complete engagement is by taking a short trip through complete boredom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two days ago, I argued that boredom is the enemy of success and productivity. Instead of trying to discipline yourself to push through boredom, you should be eliminating it all together. Boredom often masks a deeper fear of failure and risk that forces you to lead a safe, but uninteresting life. One reader, however, pointed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[680],"tags":[294,297,97,296,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-nc-productivity","7":"tag-boredom","8":"tag-engagement","9":"tag-enthusiasm","10":"tag-half-boredom","11":"tag-productivity","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two days ago, I argued that boredom is the enemy of success and productivity. Instead of trying to discipline yourself to push through boredom, you should be eliminating it all together. Boredom often masks a deeper fear of failure and risk that forces you to lead a safe, but uninteresting life. One reader, however, pointed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@scotthyoung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"headline\":\"The Evils of Partial Boredom\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":510,\"commentCount\":6,\"keywords\":[\"boredom\",\"engagement\",\"enthusiasm\",\"half-boredom\",\"productivity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Productivity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/29\\\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Evils of Partial Boredom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scott H Young\",\"description\":\"Learn faster, achieve more\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c\",\"name\":\"Scott Young\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Young\"},\"description\":\"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scotthyoung.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/scottadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young","og_description":"Two days ago, I argued that boredom is the enemy of success and productivity. Instead of trying to discipline yourself to push through boredom, you should be eliminating it all together. Boredom often masks a deeper fear of failure and risk that forces you to lead a safe, but uninteresting life. One reader, however, pointed [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/","og_site_name":"Scott H Young","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AuthorScottYoung\/","article_published_time":"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00","author":"Scott Young","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scotthyoung","twitter_site":"@scotthyoung","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Young","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/"},"author":{"name":"Scott Young","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"headline":"The Evils of Partial Boredom","datePublished":"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/"},"wordCount":510,"commentCount":6,"keywords":["boredom","engagement","enthusiasm","half-boredom","productivity"],"articleSection":["Productivity"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/","name":"The Evils of Partial Boredom - Scott H Young","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-01-29T17:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-03T15:26:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/29\/the-evils-of-partial-boredom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Evils of Partial Boredom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/","name":"Scott H Young","description":"Learn faster, achieve more","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2f58ab6c4a36422c78416e5b7a79604c","name":"Scott Young","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2da240fb070ba8346e3be8b89043b66c39bdcf933d9e7311dcb10383d0bc645?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Young"},"description":"Hello, my name is Scott H. Young and I am obsessed with personal development! When I am not reading several books a month on the subject I am constantly trying to find new ways to improve and get more out of life.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/author\/scottadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5480,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/5480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}