Publications
Partners
1. Pick a fantasy profession
Make a wish list of all the professions you would've liked to try out if you could – actress, model, veterinary surgeon. Now think of ways to incorporate elements of each profession into your life. Join an amateur drama group, or have your pictures taken professionally as a gift for your partner, or volunteer at an animal shelter.
2. Stop reading and watching TV
Television makes boredom seem okay because you might still feel that you're doing something while in fact you're doing nothing. Julia says people at her workshops are often shocked when she tells them to stop reading. That includes newspapers, magazines and books.
"With no novel to sink into and no TV to numb us out, an evening becomes a vast savanna in which furniture, and other assumptions, get arranged."
Without TV or a book, you'll probably start doing all those things you never seem to get to: fixing things, rearranging the furniture, cooking or baking. Sooner or later you'll run out of work to do and you will have to resort to fun things, such as putting on a CD you haven't listened to in years, or suddenly deciding to paint a wall red. This is where the boredom busting comes in: the minute you start feeling those first flushes of excitement, you can be assured that boredom has left the building.
3. Listen to the green monster
We are often most jealous of what we cannot have. If you need direction in terms of how to change your life, think of the people you're most jealous of, and why. Jealousy, says Julia, is often pent-up frustration because someone else is doing what we actually would like to be doing. Let these feelings of jealousy point you in the right direction and then let it go. For example, say you are jealous of a successful poet – get your poetry published. Or if you can't stand the fact that your cousin has bought a new house – look into the property market or renovate your own home.
To do
Wipe out boredom by finding something else to do. Bored with your job? Find other things inside or outside your job that excite you. Bored with your marriage? Do new and different things together.
But is it really that simple? If you could have a whole day, or even a whole week, to do what you like, what would it be? Not finishing off long-overdue tasks at work or getting to house projects that always fall by the wayside – only things that make your heart sing.
Personal motivator Leanne Stofberg says she often finds that women are stunned when asked to list their favourite treats, or to make a list of fun things to do for themselves.
"These women can often make a list of fun outings for their children, or the things their husbands like, but when asked what they like, it takes them a while to remember." Try this exercise:
