This week of ennui can work in your favor

Do you feel like getting up from the sofa to get some cleaning done, but also don’t feel like getting up at all? Has the excitement of video calls with friends, virtual happy hours, talk of the newly-isolated life on social media and with friends and family, died down a bit? Are you scrolling OTT platforms just out of boredom but not being able to pick a movie or concentrate on it? Same goes with books you always wanted the time to read, right? Now you have the time, possibly a lot of it, but you can’t seem to turn the pages.The feeling you are experiencing is listlessness. The dictionaries define the term as: “having or showing little or no interest in anything; languid; spiritless; indifferent”. That’s where a lot of us are now on the third week of the lockdown. A new routine has been set. You are going about your days in a sort of daze, even while working from home or doing your daily chores. The initial enthusiasm to connect with friends or posting pics of food or ‘life in isolation’ has given way to a feeling of ennui.Senior writer Brigid Delaney’s recently talked about the same in ‘The Guardian’ in an article titled: ‘Goodbye panic, hello listlessness: welcome to the next stage of coronavirus isolation’. She opines this overwhelming feeling of listlessness is the result of “been given a surplus of something we’ve always craved but have proven we don’t know how to deal with: time”. Time is a luxury that we are aren’t used to, and an abundance of it is only going to push us into feelings of idleness, dullness and lethargy.Shahram Heshmat, PhD, specialises in health economics, and is an associate professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Springfield, US, wrote in an article in ‘Psychology Today’, that this feeling of ennui and boredom “is similar to mental fatigue and is caused by repetition and lack of interest in the details of our tasks (such as tasks that require continuous attention). Any experience that is predictable and repetitive becomes boring. In general, too much of the same thing and too little stimulation can cause in its victim an absence of desire and a feeling of entrapment”. Isolated in our houses, repeating our daily routines, has made all of us reside in Ennui Land.But residing in this Land of Lethargy isn’t bad. Here’s how you can get the best out of that listless feeling…How to use this feeling of ennui positively1. First, this feeling will inevitably take you to a spiritual zone. You’ll ask yourself questions like: where do I go from here? What’s the point of all this? Do not think these questions are negative. Time to think or ask the larger purpose of life is never a bad place to be in. Now, you have the time, so concentrate on what your soul is taking you. Creative people get a high from being in this state.2. It’s within your power to control where you take your thought. If you’re not comfortable in this zone for long, train your mind to focus on smaller tasks at hand. Finish one chapter of a book before everyone wakes up in the house. In the morning, your mind is more positive even if you wake up feeling listless.3. We are all living in times which tells us most things aren’t in our control. As human beings, we aren’t used to this feeling, and it makes us nervous. So, get that cupboard MarieKondo’d . That’s within your power. Make a new music list for your car. Download a fitness app, and do some exercises to make you feel better. The more you give yourself little challenges that are achievable, the calmer you will feel about the bigger picture. Because things will look up eventually, even it takes time. Make good use of that time.4. Listen to a TEDTalk on a subject far removed from your daily life. You’ll be surprised at your mental capacity which is far wider and open at this time (what with all the existential questions that’s overtaken your thoughts now that you have the time to think) to absorb ideas that may not have been possible to open up to even a month ago. Think of this time as a wellness break to heal your overworked mind and lift your tired soul.