Why you're trying to beat boredom the wrong way 

who saw ths vid because he was bored

This is fuckin hillarious. The only reason why I am currently watching all of your videos is because I am bored LOL

I think I have had flow in two situations. 1) when I am doing homework and I just get into it 2) when I am playing a video game and it all just melts together.

I always become bored when I reach a level of proficiency in a certain task. Learning how to do something is just more interesting than doing something I've learned.

"Boredom is one of the biggest challenges of our modern lives" 1025BC scandinavia. Average farmer during the winter. ' Oh boy! Only 5 days until it is time to count our remaining cabbages and grainsacs! My life is so fulfilling! '

now I get it why you get addicted to games. because they give you the flow. I feel like a fool not knowing that until now.

This video stopped my boredom and I didn't have to do anything challenging to achieve it.

The single most significant factor in boredom is ugly, and its more severe variant, fugly.

I work as a concept artist and I experience flow almost every time I draw/paint something. I highly recommend trying art as a hobby for anyone who experiences boredom. There is nothing more fun and exciting to me in this world than the experience of creating an image of something that I imagined.

the amount of ambiguity in those graphs makes me cringe so hard

I think your channel is going to be very successful. When I first saw a video of yours posted on reddit I went through and watched all of them and then subscribed. Every one of your videos is interesting, informative and useful. Keep doing these, they are great.

i always liked boredom, i get to sit back and think about ideas to code

I love this channel. Hope you start making videos again, man. I rewatch these every now and then, and they always are worth it.

Very cool, Thanks for the video!

you didnt show your units on your graphs, -2 points

Boredom is nothing other than the sensation of the emptiness of existence.

"Explore new things" Are you telling me to go outside? ._.

I pretty much only get bored in school or when I'm home with nothing to do, but I always have something to do (like homework of walking my dog or something) but I'm lazy so...

Thank you so much for your videos. Seriously, its so brilliant and I really needed some of them, especially this one. Thanks! Keep up the great work

People who get bored often don't have a 'why'. Don't have a purpose to their life. Those who have a purpose for their existence are always working towards achieving that purpose. Find your purpose.

Where does watching Movies/shows fall on that chart? Watching my favourite movies/shows makes me feel happy...!!

This information and advice might be some of the best (if not the best) I have ever got. I don't know who you are the kind stranger, but I am deeply deeply thankful! I think I finally understand why I am so unhappy all the time and what I need to do to change it.

My current problem is that I find it difficult to stay on task when the task becomes difficult -- at a much lower threshold than when I was in college. It's part of the reason I think I may be experiencing some form of depression. But what it means is that feeling this way makes me reluctant to engage in things that I view as too mentally taxing -- not the original task I just left, and not moving on to another task that requires mental effort. At present I'm seeking "abnegation," or the low use of the brain, though I don't know if that's necessarily good for me right now. But it's something I've been doing for a while, shifting from short bouts of taxing tasks to longer bouts of passivity.

Really, really great video mate. It's interesting how you pull together these topics and give them a fresh perspective. Keep up the awesome work, your content is amazing.

Nice video! Your videos put things into perspective in a very accessible way. Watching three videos I have learned that I get more anxious if I picture what I want to do and lack the confidence/experience of doing it and I want to get back to my comfortzone and be lethargic all the time. I'm also bipolar II, so depression plays a big part in it. But if I just start with doing things within my skill level, even if it scares me a little, I build up confidence/experience. Reflecting on what I have done would be a healthy and realistic self affirmation and constructively putting my anger and frustration into my making music and my gardening(when moving heavy stuff) helped me feel more confident and achieve more in the past, so I think it will work again. Anyway, enough talk. I want to do some shopping so I have the rest of the day to do some gardening. Thanks for the videos!

This is my favorite of your videos! Very interesting :D Thanks!

We get bored because modern life really isn't that exciting.

I would add, to experience a state of 'flow' you can also start physical activity, like dancing. Learning new dance moves challenges you physically and mentally. And you can experience flow on weekly basis :)

challenge yourself always worth it

This is great. Thank you!

if you're having boredom problems I feel bad for you son I got 99 problems but boredom ain't one

Well this is something I already figured out in my apprentieceship. I had some realy hard tasks in coding and as they we're hard but mostly doable for me they got me into the flow. As im a artist and pretty sporty those things sometime too lead to flow. But one particular part of the apprentice had been lead by someone who gave us either verry easy or simply undoable(with any level of skill) tasks which nearly lead to a depression in my case... but nice to have it displayed in such a nice maneer to visualize it. Thanks!

Thank you for the information.

My problem is that I often focus on the perceived negative implications of doing anything. I don't want to play that game because I might lose. I don't want to talk to those people because I might make a fool of myself. I don't want to try something new because I might not enjoy it very much. I don't want to re-read that book because I already know the plot so it will be a bit boring. I don't want to write a story because it might not turn out right and maybe nobody will want to read it. This must be some kind of powerful, advanced pessimism. Sometimes, I think I am most happy whenever my worst predictions come true.

I am having trouble finding the 3rd article sourced. Anyone know where I could access a copy of it? This one: www.researchgate.net/publication/232592654_The_systematic_assessment_of_flow_in_daily_experience

Thank you so much!

highly intelligent people tend to get bored easily too

being that oversensitive type who gets very isolated and withdrawn, this video has helped me see how to help myself out a bit more. i achieve flow when drawing something slightly more challenging than what im used to, and when having deep discussions with friends. i should seek those out more

Wonderful video and the photos are amazing.

Great video. Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks! Now that's the reason why I was using Facebook and browsing so much...

I *may* start going to the gym/working out now.

Boredom has been the bane of my life since I was a kid. I absolutely hate feeling bored, but how does one find a hobby when nothing seems interesting? I end up drinking way too much too regularly purely to alleviate boredom. Not a good combination I know, but it's the truth of the situation. Even one beer and everything seems so much more interesting and I begin to feel inspired. The problem with this however is that alcohol then makes me depressed and so the cycle continues. It sucks.

Hardest part of the final word of advice for me: something "worthy" feels impossible. Thus frequent sadness. Nice vid, tho.

This video is so great! I can relate so much, very interesting!! I subbed :)

I am never bored but I am constantly in the top left corner of that graph... the anxiety goes away after awhile

Great video!

really cool. very thought provoking. cheers.

the clock-ticking offbeat of this music is not 60 bpm and it irks the shit out of me

excellent video. keep them coming

2:56 Aren't Boredom and Relaxed supposed to swap positions?

Superb video! I've been doing this for years... Works perfectly.

Valuable information. Terrific and informative video. After watching - I plan to try the experiment mentioned - and who knows - this may create a new and positive pathway in my life. Thank you.

This becomes a lot harder as we age..

So if I have been over-sensitive and feel anxious to do new things how do I over-come this and be less sensitive or activate the courage to go, for example, to a lounge by myself and type this there, so at least I won't be bored sitting here?

Holy crap! I left this video because I got bored of it. Then, I realized the irony of me leaving a video explaining boredom because I got bored of it and came back just to type this message.

Very interesting video, as always. Thanks for the entertainment and keep up the good work :D

His voice relaxes me.

Please don't stop making these!

You forget one type of person prone to boredom: the genius.

In other words, set challenges that level with your skill. If it's outside of your skill, and you feel like you aren't able to keep up, you probably need to step down a notch with your challenge because now you're worried. (Just making note of this)

staying home and get bored is much butter than engaging in life and be a subject for people to hurt you just because they are bored.

Haven't been bored since 5 years.

You know what to talk about. I like your videos.

hello, great video sir! i am a overly sensitive person and i am always bored wanting to do things but on the other hand i have major depression (actually diagnosed with it) and social anxiety thats why i find it so hard to try out new things, recently i got into playing music. Now i want to start an audio engineering apprenticeship but i am so afraid of going there and of all the tasks. does anyone know any advice for me to chill out and not be that anxious? BTW u gained a new sucscriber :D

2:39 If the graph is right, then high-skilled people can never get bored.

Thank you

I think the highly sensitive types are actually experiencing loneliness rather than boredom. Sometimes I feel an intense "boredom" I can't figure out what is wrong and I don't want to do any of my hobbies, but then my sister calls me and then I'm fine and I start to enjoy everything again.

first video I watched and.... subscribed

having a break from doing my school project. (it's a comic) since I am a bit bored. after I finish this,I'm sure it's going to be better than all the ones my friends made.

I saw this video because I was bored.

Song name? I think it will help me in getting into flow

very nice video and explanation

*smirking like Robert De Niro* "You... You're good, you."

I am a very bored person and I have to say that to some degree I'm both of those. I'm highly resistant to stimulation and at the same time I don't bother doing anything. You might wonder why I don't do extreme stuff. Because I don't enjoy it.

That's why videogames are better than watching TV... Oddly, reading an interesting book makes me forget time too, much better than TV could.

Good one thanks

It would make sense that those who are bored reproduce often lol

great channel

Very good video :) Reflects what I experience..

what if I'm not interested in doing things that used to take away boredom before? like painting and hanging out with friends

30 seconds in the video and you're describing me... FeelsBadMan

so... the cure for boredom is to find something new to do? revolutionary.

"What are you doing and how hard is it" I'm playing a video game and HOLY SHIT IM PRESSING BUTTONS AT INHUMAN REACTION SPEED

It's strange I never feel bored, or let's say I do feel bored when I am in the wrong places (like in a bar with loud music and people doing small talk) but there are always so many interesting things in the world to think about or create stuff. That's how it seems strange to me when I hear people being in a place with all the possibilities and feel bored. But it's interesting to me because there is something people feel that I can't feel. Maybe it's hobbies and special interests, since a younger age, I was thinking too much of things, analyzing, philosophising, I could be left in an empty room and not feel bored because my mind would wander around. Then I had special interests, like programming and others, so there is always a new idea to try coding. Even a single hobby with such reach creativity posibilities can never get me bored (and most of the time I have one hobby, because I spend too much time on it and don't find time for multiple ones, or new hobbies need to learn everything from the beginning). But this is me, it's just always thinking about it, and always having one grand hobby that is more than a hobby really (it's not a way to pass time, it's rather an obsession) to keep me forever interested. But I do wonder what happens with people who are bored, are they really bored or afraid to start something new, or haven't found a hobby that occupies them? My other issue though is procrastination, or maybe my feelings that I do so. When I had this hobby, I thought I could focus more on it and make a good use of it, and instead of programming small stuff, I could program something big that makes it out of the world, but then I never get to do so. There are many days that pass that I avoid it, and always wonder, what would happen if I was 100% productive (or even 30%) instead of 5% as I am during the day. I feel like an artists doing small impressive creations here and there but nothing big and focused. So, I am in another category, I never feel bored, I never understood true boredom, but I feel like I procrastinate and never focus my work into something big. Or sometimes, because I am inspired by many things, I have 100 ideas of things I could do with computers, and don't know what to start. I know I have to select one and focus on it for long periods, but I know this will not happen. So, I don't know what advices to give to people who get bored because I don't know how this is. But at the same time, I know how procrastinating or not focusing on a single goal is, but no matter how much I analyzed it or read articles about it, I don't know what advices to give to myself and others :P p.s. I'd love to see an article on procrastination, although maybe I describe only a specific version of it. There is also procrastination on things you don't really want to do but want them to be done. Like boring studies or filling your taxes and everyday activities you'd rather not do.

So when I get in the zone in a competitive video game that I'm very good at and enjoy, is that me achieving flow? Or is it similar to just browsing the internet, since it's not very physically active?

"like browsing the internet [...] there is no skill or challenge involved" -> i have to heavily disagree. it depends on "what" you do while browsing the internet. The first big challenge you face engaging the internet is: "How do i find the information i seek?" ~ not always an easy task. for example: are you looking for copyright or patent-law protected information? This is the internet, it sure is somewhere out there. (for example scientific papers via sci-hub, entertainment, software and educational material over torrent sites) another thing i personally love to do: confront yourself with some conspiracy theories. This is super challenging, in my opinion ~> there is a lot of stupid stuff and conscious planted false information, but non-the-less there is some really interesting stuff in between. Very challenging to differ. Than again: there are a lot of theories, philosophy, hypothesis (and so on) out there. (not only conspiracies^^) I love to read philosophical articles, scientific research papers (mostly physics, math, A.I. dev), and even "simple" blogs. Yes, the internet is for pr0n. But that's not all there is ;p well... this text got a bit long, if you consider, that i only wanted to state, that i would categorize "browsing the internet" as very challenging :3

The following is a rough transcript of the dialogue track of the video. 00:00 Boredom is one of the biggest challenges of our modern lives. 00:03 I mean, how often do you think to yourself, "My life is boring, right now," or, "I've got nothing to do?" 00:09 Well, if you get these thoughts a lot, [then] it's a worrying sign. 00:12 People who are easily bored are, also, more likely to develop depression, anxiety, low work performance, and poor social skills. 00:21 Of course, you can imagine why being in a constant state of boredom can make you feel depressed, but did you know [that] there are actually two distinct personalities that are prone to boredom? 00:32 The first are the impulsive, thrill-seeking, types. 00:35 These people, naturally, need more stimulants to feel excited, so while we might only require a normal roller-coaster ride, they'll search for the fastest roller-coaster to feel the same rush of adrenaline. 00:46 Hence, the average day to them is a little bit more boring. 00:50 The second type are those who are overly sensitive. 00:53 These people want to do something exciting, but because they are more sensitive to pain and punishment, it's harder for them to go outside their comfort zone. 01:02 This leads to a general withdrawal from the world, leaving them with nothing to do. 01:07 Now, this is all sorta depressing, but boredom can be a good thing as well. 01:11 Think about it this way; over the millions of years, evolution has been incredibly efficient at stomping out unwanted traits. 01:19 If you have a trait that is harmful to your chance of survival, [then] this trait dies out over time. 01:25 Now, boredom has survived all these years of evolution, so there's probably a reason for it, right? 01:31 Well, it's likely that boredom motivates us to do something interesting; it makes us curious and more willing to explore new things in life. 01:39 Without it, we'd be sitting around, doing nothing, and making no progress. 01:44 So, the question is, how do we escape boredom? 01:47 Well, if boredom is defined as a lack of engagement with whatever task is at hand, then the opposite would be total engagement. 01:55 Just, think back to times when you've experienced pure joy. 01:58 Perhaps, there was an intense conversation with a friend, which made you lose track of time. 02:02 Maybe, it was a time when you lost yourself at a concert. 02:06 You may have, also, heard of artists claiming [that] they're in the zone when they're so focused on the task at hand and everything else is non-existent. 02:14 All these experiences have one thing in common; they're so engaging that you lose yourself in it, so it's no surprise that the Greek root word of ecstasy means, "standing outside yourself." 02:25 Psychologists have labeled this experience "flow." 02:29 To understand it, take a look at this graph. 02:32 On the x-axis, you have how skilled you are at the particular task. 02:37 On the y-axis, you have the perceived difficulty of that task. 02:41 As you can see, you are most likely to achieve flow when you are doing something that's challenging but, also, achievable with your skill level. 02:49 If it's too challenging for your skill set, you'll become anxious and won't enjoy yourself. 02:54 On the other hand, if it's too easy for you, [then] you'll find yourself bored again because you're not a hundred percent engaged in the activity, so you need to find a balance. 03:04 Now, as you can see, there are a couple of emotions in between, but the worst would be apathy; this is where we go wrong because, when we're bored, we resort to passive activities like browsing the Internet to pass time; however, they don't bring us as much satisfaction because there's no skill or challenge involved. 03:24 Furthermore, there's evidence to show that experiencing flow leads to better life satisfaction. 03:29 In one study, researchers followed the daily lives of participants via electronic messaging at random times throughout the day. 03:38 They would ask them what they were doing and the perceived challenge and skill level of their task. 03:42 Turns out, those who experience more flow repeated being happier, more creative, more excited, and more motivated. 03:51 If anything, this teaches us that it's important to keep challenging ourselves in order to live a rich and meaningful life. 03:59 Overall, if you're feeling bored, [then] don't despair too much. 04:03 Instead, view it as a sign that you need to start exploring new things. 04:07 My advice would be to find a worthy project, hobby, or task and try to achieve flow in it.

Motivates me to acquire more skills, thanks!

This is extremely interesting

I honestly don't remember when was I very happy lol

This video got me bored.

pretty cool !

Boredom = the lack of devolpting yourself (or something) if i understand it i can try to use it in a good way, so thanks for that

"people who are more easily bored are also more likely to develop depression, anxiety, low work performance and poor social skills" 3 out of 4. nice.

What if I'm being severely shunned by everyone who has power over me, leaving me blocked from almost all autonomy and relatedness? That leaves me trapped in a perpetual state of worry and anxiety, severe enough and long-lasting enough to be considered living a traumatic lifestyle. Are there any videos that deal with this?

I never get bored, even when there's nothing to do, I have no problem sitting down and drowning in my own thoughts for awhile

I assumed that the experience of boredom as common phenomenon among ordinary citizens was a relatively recent thing. Hard to imagine one 300 years ago having to work without modern machinery or pipe borne water or power at a flick of a switch . Did anyone have time to be bored then?

Smart people, cerebral people, get bored easier because they need more mind stimulation & are not into thrill-seeking behaviours. You forgot about us!

when I try to study, everything is always too easy or to difficult for me, and I never do anything :C