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Dealing With Monotony
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by how monotonous my life is. I rarely go on trips, and I’m constantly doing the same stuff with the same people. To fight this, I remember that, at the end of the day, I live in a great place with awesome people. Do you guys relate to this monotony? How do you combat it?
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15 Replies
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Oh yes, you’re definitely not alone there. I do try to keep busy, but when you tend to do the same stuff all the time it gets old. Every spring it seems to get worse. I just told Mom the other day I was bored even though I have lots to do and she felt the same way, so it’s not just us if that’s any consolation.
On a whim, my sister decided to order pearl oysters from Amazon, so when her mother-in-law comes to visit next week we’ll make an afternoon of it. Something fun and different to look forward to. Also if I have an appointment I try to do a couple extra things while we’re out just for fun. I would suggest finding a class to take too. Learning something new can be a challenge and spark some enthusiasm. If that’s not your thing, maybe go to a restaurant or coffee shop you’re not familiar with at a weird time of day just to shake things up a bit. I know you’re a coffee connoisseur, have you ever tried roasting your own beans? I knew a guy selling his own roasts at farmers market last year. I’m not a coffee drinker, but it kind of sounded fun. Usually I try to fit my stuff into other peoples schedules, but on occasion it’s fun to do more spur of the moment stuff and typically they don’t mind.
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Yeah, this is definitely something I’ve had to deal with in my post-college life. Going from constantly being surrounded by people and always having something to do to working from home was a big transition. A column I’m working on now is sort of along these lines. It’s about finding alternatives to the adventures that a lot of my friends are having. For instance, traveling out of state takes months of planning and there are a lot of factors I have to consider, but I can do day trips with friends to other parts of North Carolina. I also like going to late-night movies with friends, going to comic cons, etc. You can still meet people in your area. You may not be able to move, but you don’t have to always hang out with the exact same people.
DeAnn has some good tips here. I’d also recommend church groups, taking some classes at either a community college or center, and joining groups. Little things help break the monotony.
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Good tips. Thanks
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I can definitely relate. Boredom is one of the reasons I like spending so much time at Turnstone. Even though I’m there frequently, there are always lots of different things going on and all sorts of different kinds of people to talk to. If I’m gone for longer than a week. I start to wonder what to do with all of the time I have on my hands. I definitely recommend trying to find some sort of group you could join.
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You’re all saying to join groups. Groups just don’t float my boat very much. I love one on one talks with people. But when it comes to groups, I sorta just get lost.
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Ok, but you kind of have to step outside your comfort zone if you want things to change. If you want to meet people, you have to put yourself out there a little. And you don’t have to join huge organizations or anything. There are a lot of smaller communities out there.
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Honestly Ryan, groups aren’t really my thing either. With that being said if you could find and activity of some sort even if it’s a small group sometimes you can meet one or two people who can become friends outside of the group.
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Thanks DeAnn. And yeah, I say that because I was actually in a group for like a year and a half, and it didn’t do me much good. I think it was too large. One thing I’d like to do is join a smaller Bible study type thing, but they all seem to be at like 6am. I guess people have lives lol.
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Kevin and DeAnn are right. You don’t have to do anything big, espically if you don’t like crowds. If there’s nothing at a time that works for you maybe you could start something? Maybe find a couple of people who might be interested in meeting at a local coffee shop and see how it goes.
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I’ve been wanting to do a Bible study also Ryan, but I have the same problem with them being early in the morning. The women don’t meet at 6:30 but they meet at 9, and I can’t even do that. Someone suggested to me to start my own. I haven’t done it yet because I’m not sure I’m ready to lead a Bible study, but maybe I can find someone who would want to lead it. That way we could each pick a small number of people to join. Hopefully she will pick people I don’t know & I’ll pick people she doesn’t know – that way we’re both meeting new people. Maybe doing that would help you. Y’all could meet somewhere other than your house in order to change the environment for you.
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Yeah, I do plan on talking with some pastors I know to see what might be possible. The thing is, there’s a reason they meet so early. They’re busy during the day. So it’s probably going to be tough if not impossible to find people who can work with my schedule. Worth trying though. I hope you’re able to work something out for yourself!
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To get out of monotony, start with some small things; for example, I go out when is nice weather and I park along the road in my neighborhood and read a book, and usually when a neighbors come back from work they stand with me to talk a little .
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Great tips! I like to interact with whoever’s around me as well. Coffee shops tend to be good places to strike up conversations with people.
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yes ,Kevin I also do that,main thing for is be with normal people.
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Here’s Ryan’s column on this subject: https://smanewstoday.com/2019/04/11/travel-life-experiences-monotony-contentment /
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