Brainpickings.com shared a post on the Anatomy of Boredom. I’m drawn to personality self-tests like a moth to flame. This test boosted the ole’ psyche this morning: My Score – 79. (Naturally that led me to think that there is something wrong with me if I’m such an outlier with my great score.) Check out the entire post to find what researchers say a high or medium boredom score means for you.
The statements to follow can be answered using a 7-point scale — from ’1′ (highly disagree), to ’4′ (neutral), to ’7′ (highly agree).
It is easy for me to concentrate on my activities. Frequently when I am working I find myself worrying about other things. Time always seems to be passing slowly. I often find myself at “loose ends”, not knowing what to do. I am often trapped in situations where I have to do meaningless things. Having to look at someone’s home movies or travel slides bores me tremendously. I have projects in mind all the time, things to do. I find it easy to entertain myself. Many things I have to do are repetitive and monotonous. It takes more stimulation to get me going than most people. I get a kick out of most things I do. I am seldom excited about my work. In any situation I can usually find something to do or see to keep me interested. Much of the time I just sit around doing nothing. I am good at waiting patiently. I often find myself with nothing to do, time on my hands. In situations where I have to wait, such as in line, I get very restless. I often wake up with a new idea. It would be very hard for me to find a job that is exciting enough. I would like more challenging things to do in life. I feel that I am working below my abilities most of the time. Many people would say that I am a creative or imaginative person. I have so many interests, I don’t have time to do everything. Among my friends, I am the one who keeps doing something the longest. Unless I am doing something exciting, even dangerous, I feel half-dead and dull. It takes a lot of change and variety to keep me really happy. It seems that the same things are on television or the movies all the time; it’s getting old. When I was young, I was often in monotonous and tiresome situations.To find out your own proneness to boredom, add up the total of the scores you gave each question and see results below:
- Average Score: 99
- Average Range: 81-117
- You Become Bored Easily: > 117
- Your Boredom Threshold is Very High: 117
Related Posts:
- The Stress Test
- The Thought-Patterns of Success…
- If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers
- “Your stress levels climbing? Taking too much on? Unfinished work piling up? The Heat is on. The Way Out Is Through…”
- Gnawing sense of anxiety about un-captured work…
- Is your job killing you?
- Three Good Things
- Sit down and be quiet. You are drunk, and this is the edge of the roof.

111 – and probably pretty accurate…and can you imagine what kind of therapist I would have been if I was easily bored??? 🙂
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Hilarious!
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Average – 104 – but the test is surely flawed.
How can I get that many 1s and that many 7s on the same test?
And I can wait very patiently forever and ever as long as I have a couple of books and some Sudoku on me…
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Not flawed. Researched and tested. Average, huh? Hmmmm. Sure you didn’t answer with confirmation bias rather than actual reality?
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What are saying, Dave?
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Laughing now.
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96, It is probably accurate. I am not a patient person, but I can usually find ways to amuse myself.
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96 – I can see you on both sides of the barbell MBN. 🙂
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122 I’m almost never bored. If I have a piece of paper and a pen, I’m happy. If not, I just play mental games in an otherwise boring situation. There aren’t enough hours in the day or night to do all the things I want to do in my life.
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122 – a HIGH SCORE!
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I should have been a cat. I need nine lives to do all the things I want to do.
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Intelligent or creative people can become bored fast in mundane situations. The only way to overcome that is to participate in activities that reflect the intelligence and creativity of the individual.
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Wow, this theory would plant me in the idiot and banal camp. Ouch!
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102. Well, I guess I’m normal, but how come I find normal so boring?
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Not boring Sarah…peaceful. 🙂
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I have never understood how someone can be bored. There is so much to do in life!
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Funny how boredom tends to diminish as one ages…
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