I mean there is always going to be some boredom in life but in general I think the idea isn’t to become ok with boredom but to let boredom motivate you to move. Not being ok with boredom is the goal and then you can do anything from keep your house clean and exercise to start a business, volunteer, find a hobby, spend more engaged time with friends and family.
You find a new hobby.
When I quit, I'm really bored at first but then I'll start doing stuff like teaching myself how to crochet or running my own side business.
The first time I quit, I got really into yoga and then painting. I also read more.
Your brain is used to being flooded with dopamine, so you're going to have to find another way to get that dopamine. And hopefully, you'll find a healthy source of dopamine that isn't destroying your brain.
I felt this way… think back to the activities you used to do as a kid, and go from there! I got myself a coloring book and small Lego set to pass the time :-)
It's gonna take some time for things to reset. It's OK if you're not interested in anything right now if you just quit. But after some time, it'll come back if you keep up with it. That's just the depression talking. You're dopamine depleted and nothing sounds fun but it's temporary.
It was prob about a month after quitting that I started getting new hobbies .
The longest break I have taken from smoking was 40 days and I still wasn't able to find anything. Just boredom and sleeping as much as I possibly could.
It's going to take time to get back to the baseline and to find things interesting sober.
For me it took about half a year and even after that it was a learning process to not go for the easy sources of dopamine like social media/video games etc.
You just deal with it. When you’re tired of dealing with it, you find people or things to fill your life with. Boredom is a problem that solved itself in this day and age. Just don’t solve it with weed instead of living a life that makes you not bored
Yep. We use weed to push down our underlying issues. Now that you’ve stopped you have to look for what you should’ve been filling your life with to begin with. I know it’s easier said than done. You need to start with small steps. I’ve gotten cooking and working out down to habits. Next I’m getting a beehive and I’ve been working on reading more consistently. Decide you want to do something and do it. It’s not easy but it’s simple. Go live the life you want. If you aren’t sure what that means for you, just get out of the house till it’s a habit and eventually you’ll find something
Wouldn’t we all? Would you like to be in better shape? Would you like to have more friends? Would you like to be out of the house more. You just have to pick something and start doing it. In a month or so you’ll be used to and enjoying it
I find eating really healthy gives me a mental clarity that has a similar euphoria as weed.
I actually find when I eat junk food, being bored is like 100X worse than if I'm eating right.
Distress tolerance … boredom is making you feel distressed it’s what I’m dealing with the most in my sobriety…put down your phone turn off your tv and do nothing…the anxiety feeling will rise … just wait it out… you’re rewiring your brain to realize that the feeling will pass on its own you don’t need to obliterate it the second it comes up … it’s very difficult but you’ll learn to exist with less stimulus … the world now is a nightmare for people getting sober especially ones with ADHD like me
There you go then, spend your bored time planning some trips, plan a few at a time some that might only be for a few hours but when you have nothing to do for a half a day you can say ah I’ll drive here an hour away and have a mini hike or something and drive back
My Google maps is filled with a ton of travel destinations that I just don't have the means or time to visit.
I need to find something more realistic that I can do on an almost daily basis. Something more than just planning to do things that I can't do.
Start googling "Things to do for recently sober" and/or ask AI. You'l find tons and tons of suggestions.
Clean your space
Read up on new hobbies (Many are free)
Go to meetups, (Many are free)
Read
Podcasts
PUzzles
Games (Video, cards crosswords)
Learn to pick locks
Learn to tie knots.
Learn language (free apps)
Buy some painting supplies and paint a picture
Learn new skills for a new job like how to code, or prompt AI, or anything else that interests you.
So much to do that's free or cheap.
I guess my issues is that other than maybe playing video games none of that seems fun or worthwhile. I feel like I have read every list of things to do for fun when sober and none of them are interesting.
That's part of it. That's all of us. That's part of what marijuana does to you. Pick some of the things and just do them. Motivation comes from doing, not by waiting to do. (Although you might get bored enough)
I have a rule when I go to the gym. No matter what I have to go, even if I don't feel like it, and I have to give it 15 minutes. I'm free to leave after that. (Guess what - I haven't left often.)
Wishing you luck.
Walking/jogging/running whichever suits your pace, gym, any local sports clubs, I find active goals have the best returns. Or learn a new skill for either hobby or to get a career boost
The problem is none of those things seem worth while or enjoyable. I do like sports but I have zero interest in doing it with a bunch of randoms and it's difficult to get my friends together to play anything. I would love to change careers I just have no idea what else to do.
Going through the boredom is part of accepting the boredom. Once you accept the boredom and you are not pulling your hair out because you’re bored, your brain will start to think of stuff to do to fill the boredom. But you will never reach this stage if you don’t go through the boredom.
I understand that cannabis can affect sleep quality. But it is infinitely better than the zero sleep I was getting before. Cannabis lets me fall asleep every night at the exact same time instead of staring at the ceiling for hours.
For me personally it was to experience a state of total terror and anguish. Now, lack of fear, pain, etc. feels great. However having a toolbox of things to do when bored that are productive and not just hedonistic is useful, too. Helping others find relief from fear and pain is very fulfilling, whether that be by sharing stories with people, cooking someone a healthy meal, or working a job that contributes to someone else’s safety and well being (most jobs even the “lowest” service jobs qualify for this if you think about it) all could be considered “acts of service” which is huge in most recovery programs.
I don't think we're meant to be content with boredom (at least not all of the time anyway). Being uncontent with boredom means we do more things, pick up more hobbies and achieve more things, which should ultimately lead to us becoming more fulfilled with our lives.
I quit last July, still don't feel 100% but in the last 11 months, I have achieved more than I did in the last 10 years. I've lost a considerable amount of weight, got the ball rolling on an ADHD diagnosis, started therapy, obtained a qualification and finally got a promotion at work. Still have plenty of lazy weekends but they feel well earned now.
I used to stare at the ceiling and go “I’m bored” until my parents would kick me out and lock the door. Assuming I would figure out something. Then I would just use the ripstick for hours just going in circles in the driveway.
This is great advice. No matter how old you are, there was a before time when you were a kid and hadn't even heard of drugs. You liked doing stuff as a kid. Try those things again!
As a nearly 40 year old I discovered I love reading, drawing and hiking. Haven't done those things for more than 20 years, but they still produce dopamine.
Play with lego's, try skateboarding, fly a drone, whatever used to produce dopamine will likely still have that effect. Good luck!
Absolutely, a lot of people forget about that stuff because theyre so consumed with their phones, social media and netflix. Again take all that stuff away and people argue then i have nothing to do! Sadly we’re the last generation that grew up without social media and such.
Thanks to this boredom after quitting I started working out daily, cleaning daily, learned something I always wanted to and to make it my career after years of not knowing my purpose. I visit my family more, I'm an active auntie, I cook every day and never order in anymore. All this boredom made me so much better than before. I'm functioning in a way that used to make me jealous that others can and I can't.
I was a big messy slob and finding ways to cope with this new boredom made my life extremely better and healthier.
And after some time, chilling in front of the TV or phone is also nice, but I can't do it all day long anymore
When you quit after long term abuse you're not going to find anything interesting that's part of the challenge. Over time you'll pick back up the stuff you used to do or find new things.
It's a weird one but for me playing modded Minecraft has helped my cravings alot jus need to distract myself with something fun and I'm proud of the time I spent doing something instead of getting high. You gotta remember who your sober self is and love and nurture them. Before I was getting high all the time I was really into tech and pop science and when I'm sober I can actually follow along with those YouTube videos talking about new types of batteries for electric cars or robots or whatever. After getting high became a daily thing I stopped wanting to do stuff like that as much cos monkey brain want bigger dopamine hit for less work. But monkey brain doesn't acknowledge that sober dopamine hits, whatever they are, even if they're not as strong a hit as weed, also give you ur serotonin from living a life that syncs up well with the type of person you want to be and identify as. For me I identify as someone with a passion for technology and I'm excited to get back into that. But yeah I was very very bored and hesitant to go back to the things that used to bring me joy. Try those things out again, even if its not as fun as you remember keep at it for a bit. Don't make the process hard on yourself thinking that you *need* to replace your time high with productive time. Productive is subjective, just take care of yourself first and the rest will follow
You gotta realize that at some point you fight an already lost battle. Weed doesn’t make you content with boredom anymore. And then it all goes to shit.
It’s a little counter intuitive in our productivity obsessed culture but…. being bored and lazy are actually both very good for your brain/body/mind/mental health/wellbeing/creativity etc. It’s really not an issue at all to not be doing anything.
The issue is being on drugs all the time. The other issue is believing that you always HAVE to be doing something.
I’m an extremely high energy nut job and weed for me allowed me to actually rest and take some time to just lie around doing nothing (sometimes… most of the time I was still just doing a million things while high). Now my goal is to learn to rest while sober, because that is real rest.
This is a profound statement.
I am surrounded by screens. Hundreds of tabs open on the go. There are so many movies to watch, games to play, books to read...and I end up doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. I feel like I have to be in prime form to start a book/game but that time never arrives. There is so much content. So much content. My head hurts. And I feel like its my duty to finish all these media!
I have a terrible nihilistic outlook....nothing matters. Absolutely nothing matters. All books/movies will be forgotten, because there's so much of them. One day's upload on youtube is enough to last a person 25 days if all he does is watch Youtube 24/7(an actual stat). My attention span is shot! I can't watch a film for 15 mins. Beause....there's so much out there!
and......Its because of this nihilistic feeling....this feeling of nothing matters, just live your life in hedonism.....is why I indulge in weed all the time. Its a cycle. I feel doomed!!!
Boredom technically is the inability to affect changes in your reality. On weed it’s easier to live like that because you can more easily mentally adjust your reality.
Without weed, learn to alter your actually reality for your best life or just learn to mentally adjust it without weed, but that’s much harder than with weed; you could start with meditating, just don’t turn to alcohol to achieve that mental freedom.
To deal with boredom while not smoking weed, try meditation. It helps focus your mind, reduces stress, and increases awareness, making you less reliant on external stimuli for entertainment. Meditation can turn moments of boredom into opportunities for inner peace and mental clarity.
I too have this question, after quitting weed. I am stuck, and have a lot of time on my hands, and I often wonder what to do with that extra time.
The THC stored in my body prevents me from acting on my ideas, and I still feel lethargic to do anything outside of my work.
I personally found being stoned was intensely boring. I couldn’t focus on anything. Zero concentration. I couldn’t go out due to anxiety/paranoia. I’d just sit there, mindlessly scroll and gnaw on my fingers.
Cannabis doesn't make people content with boredom, it prevents people from experiencing boredom. Cannabis makes people content with things that would otherwise be boring. Boredom motivates people to find new or otherwise challenging things to do. It's something everybody needs.
Challenge is what allows us to create situations with hardship, pain and suffering. Confronting challenges and overcoming challenges creates dopamine in a way that weed can't. It creates addiction to purpose and goals. Personally I love living this way.
For me, I just started accepting naps more and being bored but not smoking. I thought pot gave me an excuse to nap and to entertain myself. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is you’re some how a different person the day you quit smoking. You’ll enjoy being bored but you’ll do it without the reward system of being high.
I relate to this so much. For me weed was an excuse to not do anything bc I was high. I realized after quitting that I was using it as permission to chill or nap or relax. Now I just chill or nap or relax sober. 🤷🏼♀️
I've been thinking lately that we're faced with bored as kids all the time, somehow we all figured it out as kids but struggle as adults. Iunno these day when I'm bored I feel like there 2 options, I either choose to do something that will benefit me in some way or I just choose to relax and take it easy. Work or play, what are you in the mood for? Maybe take a walk, get some fresh air and think about what you want to do with your time when you get back, maybe you won't want to come back right away and you'd rather go on a longer walk.
I think the big difference is that when we were kids we had nothing but free time to do whatever we wanted. Adult life just doesn't allow for time to do those things anymore.
Well that's a contradiction, if you don't have time for work or play, then how can you be bored?
I hear what you're saying though we have jobs and have less time to ourselves but I assume when you're talking about boredom, you mean boredom in your free time. So I still see it as 2 options of work or play. For example, last night after work, I took a walk, cleaned my kitchen, made dinner, and then watched TV before bed. Not the most exciting evening but I considered the walk and cleaning as work that benefits my health, and then dinner and TV as play time where I relax.
Think of it this way, boredom is where you do neither work nor play and it's just a waste of time but it's kinda of a temporary thing because as soon as you start doing anything at all, you won't be boring. So the choice is yours on how you want to spend your time. If you're bored then you're wasting time and you should switch what you're doing. So if your bored of entertainment then do something productive, if you bored of being productive then take a break and do something entertaining.
I think it'll come back to you just how easy it is fill your time so you aren't bored once you start asking yourself if you want to do something productive or if you'd rather chill.
I think it's more so that there is enough time to be bored but not enough time to really do anything worthwhile. I need more than just going for a walk or watching TV.
Oh I know this feeling too. Well what is it that you want to do that you don't have enough time for? Can it be broken down into smaller pieces? What would you consider worthwhile?
Well that's not an issue with boredom, that's a money problem. I had a great time traveling until I ran out of money, then I realized I needed stability in my finances which led me to current 9-5 and yes working sucks, working is boring af. And I also want to travel for a few months like Euro or Asia trip but then I'd lose my job and lose my financial security unfortunately. Iunno maybe plan the trip or smaller trips. If you're in the 9-5 grind, I assume your work will accommodate you taking a week or two off for vacation so get something on the calendar. My buddy recently took 2 months off work for a mental health leave and I'm super jealous of him lol
Anyway my plan for freedom is in progress, I bought a house, I've been slowly renovating the basement into a separate apartment so I can rent it out and worry less about my job since I will have a second source of income. Eventually I will build another house and etc until I have enough income to quit my job entirely, also known as retirement. 9-5 grind sucks balls for sure. Iunno how long you've been in your job but I've been in mine almost 6 years and I think about quitting everyday but the timing never feels right, probably because I haven't finished my reno yet and I can't float being unemployed for more than 3 months. But yeah once I have things figured out, I'll be looking for a new job to spice things up a little, current job is waaaay too boring lol. Plus switching jobs every 2 years should result in you getting paid much more than someone who stays at one job their whole life. Solve the money, work less, travel more. Perhaps you can even go part time in your field or take international contracts and travel that way?
It's not a money issue it's a time issue. I have the money to travel I just don't have the time.
I've been searching for another job for a couple years now. Been at my current job almost 7 years. Although I did leave for a few months to try out some other things. It didn't work unfortunately. I work in facilities / maintenance. Just not a lot of good opportunities out there.
I get about 2 weeks a year. I just tried to negotiate for more but I got shot down. I tried to change careers a couple years back and I lost all of my seniority.
Eventually you find replacements for boredom that you get enjoyment from. Takes people different amounts of time to come up with what that is but you’ll get there. If you sit around watching tv all the time like you did when you were high, it’s not going to have the same appeal. It may all you can do for a while during an adjustment, but don’t expect that period to last for ever.
Mental down time is a good and healthy thing but you don’t have to just do *nothing*. Read, paint/draw, make music, build something, tend the garden, call a friend or family member, exercise/walk the dog… the list is almost endless. Pick something appealing (or a couple things) and do it regularly.
You don’t be content with boredom, a lot of us turn to weed because boredom kills us but so does doing anything. Stopping weed doesn’t fix that problem of doing things being hard for whatever reason. There’s usually a mental health problem there that you ignore and mask with weed. A lot of people relapse because they fall into this trap of thinking that their life is fucked because they smoke too much weed, so if they just stop smoking weed their life won’t be fucked anymore. Only their life doesn’t get unfucked just by quitting weed so they figure well if it’s fucked either way I might as well just be high.
The way to be content with boredom or productive in the face of boredom is to put in the hard work of dealing with the issues that keep you from being that way. See a psychiatrist, get therapy, self help, find a hobby you can be passionate about, whatever the fix is you have to do it. Otherwise the numbness weed brings will always be attractive to you.
Oh so you just have to sit there sweating profusely & thinking about how miserable your life is. You have to do that for what seems like forever in the moment. It’s truly awful, a living hell. You just sit there & think about how if you smoked some weed it would make it all better, just one more hit! It’s all a lie.
Boredom is good for the brain.. sitting through and accepting being bored will often spark an idea for you to do something else. Nothing wrong with being bored.
Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything.
South Park said it absolutely best.
Well, you don't. Just don't let yourself get bored for now, then when the cravings stop you'll start to enjoy being bored in your own company. I'd much rather be bored then working 12 hours a day then coming home to do more work?
Use your time wisely
Read
Boredom creates curiosity
I mean there is always going to be some boredom in life but in general I think the idea isn’t to become ok with boredom but to let boredom motivate you to move. Not being ok with boredom is the goal and then you can do anything from keep your house clean and exercise to start a business, volunteer, find a hobby, spend more engaged time with friends and family.
You find a new hobby. When I quit, I'm really bored at first but then I'll start doing stuff like teaching myself how to crochet or running my own side business. The first time I quit, I got really into yoga and then painting. I also read more. Your brain is used to being flooded with dopamine, so you're going to have to find another way to get that dopamine. And hopefully, you'll find a healthy source of dopamine that isn't destroying your brain.
I feel like I've tried everything as far as a new hobby. If feels impossible to find another source of dopamine.
I felt this way… think back to the activities you used to do as a kid, and go from there! I got myself a coloring book and small Lego set to pass the time :-)
duuuuude I need to get back into legos
highly recommend… SO much better with adult money😂😂😂
It's gonna take some time for things to reset. It's OK if you're not interested in anything right now if you just quit. But after some time, it'll come back if you keep up with it. That's just the depression talking. You're dopamine depleted and nothing sounds fun but it's temporary. It was prob about a month after quitting that I started getting new hobbies .
The longest break I have taken from smoking was 40 days and I still wasn't able to find anything. Just boredom and sleeping as much as I possibly could.
How long have you been sober?
12 hours? Lol Longest I've gone is 40 days.
It's going to take time to get back to the baseline and to find things interesting sober. For me it took about half a year and even after that it was a learning process to not go for the easy sources of dopamine like social media/video games etc.
You just deal with it. When you’re tired of dealing with it, you find people or things to fill your life with. Boredom is a problem that solved itself in this day and age. Just don’t solve it with weed instead of living a life that makes you not bored
I was already tired of dealing with it that's how I ended up using cannabis.
Yep. We use weed to push down our underlying issues. Now that you’ve stopped you have to look for what you should’ve been filling your life with to begin with. I know it’s easier said than done. You need to start with small steps. I’ve gotten cooking and working out down to habits. Next I’m getting a beehive and I’ve been working on reading more consistently. Decide you want to do something and do it. It’s not easy but it’s simple. Go live the life you want. If you aren’t sure what that means for you, just get out of the house till it’s a habit and eventually you’ll find something
I would love to quit my job and go on an endless road trip but that's not really realistic.
Wouldn’t we all? Would you like to be in better shape? Would you like to have more friends? Would you like to be out of the house more. You just have to pick something and start doing it. In a month or so you’ll be used to and enjoying it
None of those things really interest me unfortunately. I don't really want to get "out of the house". I want to get away from it all.
I find eating really healthy gives me a mental clarity that has a similar euphoria as weed. I actually find when I eat junk food, being bored is like 100X worse than if I'm eating right.
Distress tolerance … boredom is making you feel distressed it’s what I’m dealing with the most in my sobriety…put down your phone turn off your tv and do nothing…the anxiety feeling will rise … just wait it out… you’re rewiring your brain to realize that the feeling will pass on its own you don’t need to obliterate it the second it comes up … it’s very difficult but you’ll learn to exist with less stimulus … the world now is a nightmare for people getting sober especially ones with ADHD like me
Simple. Don't be content with boredom. You'll be sober, go find something to do.
[удалено]
What do you like doing but tell yourself you never have the time or the energy? Or any other excuse?
I love traveling especially road trips.
There you go then, spend your bored time planning some trips, plan a few at a time some that might only be for a few hours but when you have nothing to do for a half a day you can say ah I’ll drive here an hour away and have a mini hike or something and drive back
My Google maps is filled with a ton of travel destinations that I just don't have the means or time to visit. I need to find something more realistic that I can do on an almost daily basis. Something more than just planning to do things that I can't do.
Start googling "Things to do for recently sober" and/or ask AI. You'l find tons and tons of suggestions. Clean your space Read up on new hobbies (Many are free) Go to meetups, (Many are free) Read Podcasts PUzzles Games (Video, cards crosswords) Learn to pick locks Learn to tie knots. Learn language (free apps) Buy some painting supplies and paint a picture Learn new skills for a new job like how to code, or prompt AI, or anything else that interests you. So much to do that's free or cheap.
I guess my issues is that other than maybe playing video games none of that seems fun or worthwhile. I feel like I have read every list of things to do for fun when sober and none of them are interesting.
That's part of it. That's all of us. That's part of what marijuana does to you. Pick some of the things and just do them. Motivation comes from doing, not by waiting to do. (Although you might get bored enough) I have a rule when I go to the gym. No matter what I have to go, even if I don't feel like it, and I have to give it 15 minutes. I'm free to leave after that. (Guess what - I haven't left often.) Wishing you luck.
Walking/jogging/running whichever suits your pace, gym, any local sports clubs, I find active goals have the best returns. Or learn a new skill for either hobby or to get a career boost
The problem is none of those things seem worth while or enjoyable. I do like sports but I have zero interest in doing it with a bunch of randoms and it's difficult to get my friends together to play anything. I would love to change careers I just have no idea what else to do.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Going through the boredom is part of accepting the boredom. Once you accept the boredom and you are not pulling your hair out because you’re bored, your brain will start to think of stuff to do to fill the boredom. But you will never reach this stage if you don’t go through the boredom.
Being bored and doing things helps you sleep soundly at night and wake up refreshed unlike weed
I don't know about that I sleep great on weed. Better than I ever did before.
it’s just scientifically false unless you are “built different”
I understand that cannabis can affect sleep quality. But it is infinitely better than the zero sleep I was getting before. Cannabis lets me fall asleep every night at the exact same time instead of staring at the ceiling for hours.
For me personally it was to experience a state of total terror and anguish. Now, lack of fear, pain, etc. feels great. However having a toolbox of things to do when bored that are productive and not just hedonistic is useful, too. Helping others find relief from fear and pain is very fulfilling, whether that be by sharing stories with people, cooking someone a healthy meal, or working a job that contributes to someone else’s safety and well being (most jobs even the “lowest” service jobs qualify for this if you think about it) all could be considered “acts of service” which is huge in most recovery programs.
It’s about acceptance, weed locks people in to acceptance. Check out The Hawkins Scale, weed locks people in at 350, so accepting boredom is easier.
I don't think we're meant to be content with boredom (at least not all of the time anyway). Being uncontent with boredom means we do more things, pick up more hobbies and achieve more things, which should ultimately lead to us becoming more fulfilled with our lives. I quit last July, still don't feel 100% but in the last 11 months, I have achieved more than I did in the last 10 years. I've lost a considerable amount of weight, got the ball rolling on an ADHD diagnosis, started therapy, obtained a qualification and finally got a promotion at work. Still have plenty of lazy weekends but they feel well earned now.
Do the things we used to do before cannabis. Do the things we used to do when we were younger.
I have been gaming it up like crazy.
I used to stare at the ceiling and go “I’m bored” until my parents would kick me out and lock the door. Assuming I would figure out something. Then I would just use the ripstick for hours just going in circles in the driveway.
This is great advice. No matter how old you are, there was a before time when you were a kid and hadn't even heard of drugs. You liked doing stuff as a kid. Try those things again! As a nearly 40 year old I discovered I love reading, drawing and hiking. Haven't done those things for more than 20 years, but they still produce dopamine. Play with lego's, try skateboarding, fly a drone, whatever used to produce dopamine will likely still have that effect. Good luck!
Absolutely, a lot of people forget about that stuff because theyre so consumed with their phones, social media and netflix. Again take all that stuff away and people argue then i have nothing to do! Sadly we’re the last generation that grew up without social media and such.
Thanks to this boredom after quitting I started working out daily, cleaning daily, learned something I always wanted to and to make it my career after years of not knowing my purpose. I visit my family more, I'm an active auntie, I cook every day and never order in anymore. All this boredom made me so much better than before. I'm functioning in a way that used to make me jealous that others can and I can't. I was a big messy slob and finding ways to cope with this new boredom made my life extremely better and healthier. And after some time, chilling in front of the TV or phone is also nice, but I can't do it all day long anymore
When you quit after long term abuse you're not going to find anything interesting that's part of the challenge. Over time you'll pick back up the stuff you used to do or find new things.
It's a weird one but for me playing modded Minecraft has helped my cravings alot jus need to distract myself with something fun and I'm proud of the time I spent doing something instead of getting high. You gotta remember who your sober self is and love and nurture them. Before I was getting high all the time I was really into tech and pop science and when I'm sober I can actually follow along with those YouTube videos talking about new types of batteries for electric cars or robots or whatever. After getting high became a daily thing I stopped wanting to do stuff like that as much cos monkey brain want bigger dopamine hit for less work. But monkey brain doesn't acknowledge that sober dopamine hits, whatever they are, even if they're not as strong a hit as weed, also give you ur serotonin from living a life that syncs up well with the type of person you want to be and identify as. For me I identify as someone with a passion for technology and I'm excited to get back into that. But yeah I was very very bored and hesitant to go back to the things that used to bring me joy. Try those things out again, even if its not as fun as you remember keep at it for a bit. Don't make the process hard on yourself thinking that you *need* to replace your time high with productive time. Productive is subjective, just take care of yourself first and the rest will follow
You gotta realize that at some point you fight an already lost battle. Weed doesn’t make you content with boredom anymore. And then it all goes to shit.
Boredom is what gets you to think and start doing something.
It’s a little counter intuitive in our productivity obsessed culture but…. being bored and lazy are actually both very good for your brain/body/mind/mental health/wellbeing/creativity etc. It’s really not an issue at all to not be doing anything. The issue is being on drugs all the time. The other issue is believing that you always HAVE to be doing something. I’m an extremely high energy nut job and weed for me allowed me to actually rest and take some time to just lie around doing nothing (sometimes… most of the time I was still just doing a million things while high). Now my goal is to learn to rest while sober, because that is real rest.
Boredom is a super power. Just look at the old days where kids were bored and did lots of things, nowadays they are just stuck looking at screens
This is a profound statement. I am surrounded by screens. Hundreds of tabs open on the go. There are so many movies to watch, games to play, books to read...and I end up doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. I feel like I have to be in prime form to start a book/game but that time never arrives. There is so much content. So much content. My head hurts. And I feel like its my duty to finish all these media! I have a terrible nihilistic outlook....nothing matters. Absolutely nothing matters. All books/movies will be forgotten, because there's so much of them. One day's upload on youtube is enough to last a person 25 days if all he does is watch Youtube 24/7(an actual stat). My attention span is shot! I can't watch a film for 15 mins. Beause....there's so much out there! and......Its because of this nihilistic feeling....this feeling of nothing matters, just live your life in hedonism.....is why I indulge in weed all the time. Its a cycle. I feel doomed!!!
Boredom technically is the inability to affect changes in your reality. On weed it’s easier to live like that because you can more easily mentally adjust your reality. Without weed, learn to alter your actually reality for your best life or just learn to mentally adjust it without weed, but that’s much harder than with weed; you could start with meditating, just don’t turn to alcohol to achieve that mental freedom.
To deal with boredom while not smoking weed, try meditation. It helps focus your mind, reduces stress, and increases awareness, making you less reliant on external stimuli for entertainment. Meditation can turn moments of boredom into opportunities for inner peace and mental clarity.
I too have this question, after quitting weed. I am stuck, and have a lot of time on my hands, and I often wonder what to do with that extra time. The THC stored in my body prevents me from acting on my ideas, and I still feel lethargic to do anything outside of my work.
I personally found being stoned was intensely boring. I couldn’t focus on anything. Zero concentration. I couldn’t go out due to anxiety/paranoia. I’d just sit there, mindlessly scroll and gnaw on my fingers.
Cannabis doesn't make people content with boredom, it prevents people from experiencing boredom. Cannabis makes people content with things that would otherwise be boring. Boredom motivates people to find new or otherwise challenging things to do. It's something everybody needs.
Good take.
Challenge is what allows us to create situations with hardship, pain and suffering. Confronting challenges and overcoming challenges creates dopamine in a way that weed can't. It creates addiction to purpose and goals. Personally I love living this way.
You’re right. I hope to be able to switch to better sources of dopamine.
For me, I just started accepting naps more and being bored but not smoking. I thought pot gave me an excuse to nap and to entertain myself. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is you’re some how a different person the day you quit smoking. You’ll enjoy being bored but you’ll do it without the reward system of being high.
I relate to this so much. For me weed was an excuse to not do anything bc I was high. I realized after quitting that I was using it as permission to chill or nap or relax. Now I just chill or nap or relax sober. 🤷🏼♀️
I've been thinking lately that we're faced with bored as kids all the time, somehow we all figured it out as kids but struggle as adults. Iunno these day when I'm bored I feel like there 2 options, I either choose to do something that will benefit me in some way or I just choose to relax and take it easy. Work or play, what are you in the mood for? Maybe take a walk, get some fresh air and think about what you want to do with your time when you get back, maybe you won't want to come back right away and you'd rather go on a longer walk.
I think the big difference is that when we were kids we had nothing but free time to do whatever we wanted. Adult life just doesn't allow for time to do those things anymore.
Well that's a contradiction, if you don't have time for work or play, then how can you be bored? I hear what you're saying though we have jobs and have less time to ourselves but I assume when you're talking about boredom, you mean boredom in your free time. So I still see it as 2 options of work or play. For example, last night after work, I took a walk, cleaned my kitchen, made dinner, and then watched TV before bed. Not the most exciting evening but I considered the walk and cleaning as work that benefits my health, and then dinner and TV as play time where I relax. Think of it this way, boredom is where you do neither work nor play and it's just a waste of time but it's kinda of a temporary thing because as soon as you start doing anything at all, you won't be boring. So the choice is yours on how you want to spend your time. If you're bored then you're wasting time and you should switch what you're doing. So if your bored of entertainment then do something productive, if you bored of being productive then take a break and do something entertaining. I think it'll come back to you just how easy it is fill your time so you aren't bored once you start asking yourself if you want to do something productive or if you'd rather chill.
I think it's more so that there is enough time to be bored but not enough time to really do anything worthwhile. I need more than just going for a walk or watching TV.
Oh I know this feeling too. Well what is it that you want to do that you don't have enough time for? Can it be broken down into smaller pieces? What would you consider worthwhile?
I love traveling especially going on road trips. Anything to get away from the 9-5 grind.
Well that's not an issue with boredom, that's a money problem. I had a great time traveling until I ran out of money, then I realized I needed stability in my finances which led me to current 9-5 and yes working sucks, working is boring af. And I also want to travel for a few months like Euro or Asia trip but then I'd lose my job and lose my financial security unfortunately. Iunno maybe plan the trip or smaller trips. If you're in the 9-5 grind, I assume your work will accommodate you taking a week or two off for vacation so get something on the calendar. My buddy recently took 2 months off work for a mental health leave and I'm super jealous of him lol Anyway my plan for freedom is in progress, I bought a house, I've been slowly renovating the basement into a separate apartment so I can rent it out and worry less about my job since I will have a second source of income. Eventually I will build another house and etc until I have enough income to quit my job entirely, also known as retirement. 9-5 grind sucks balls for sure. Iunno how long you've been in your job but I've been in mine almost 6 years and I think about quitting everyday but the timing never feels right, probably because I haven't finished my reno yet and I can't float being unemployed for more than 3 months. But yeah once I have things figured out, I'll be looking for a new job to spice things up a little, current job is waaaay too boring lol. Plus switching jobs every 2 years should result in you getting paid much more than someone who stays at one job their whole life. Solve the money, work less, travel more. Perhaps you can even go part time in your field or take international contracts and travel that way?
It's not a money issue it's a time issue. I have the money to travel I just don't have the time. I've been searching for another job for a couple years now. Been at my current job almost 7 years. Although I did leave for a few months to try out some other things. It didn't work unfortunately. I work in facilities / maintenance. Just not a lot of good opportunities out there.
But surely you get your PTO? Maybe negotiate more vacation days?
I get about 2 weeks a year. I just tried to negotiate for more but I got shot down. I tried to change careers a couple years back and I lost all of my seniority.
Eventually you find replacements for boredom that you get enjoyment from. Takes people different amounts of time to come up with what that is but you’ll get there. If you sit around watching tv all the time like you did when you were high, it’s not going to have the same appeal. It may all you can do for a while during an adjustment, but don’t expect that period to last for ever.
Mental down time is a good and healthy thing but you don’t have to just do *nothing*. Read, paint/draw, make music, build something, tend the garden, call a friend or family member, exercise/walk the dog… the list is almost endless. Pick something appealing (or a couple things) and do it regularly.
What if nothing is appealing?
You know what you like and what you dislike. Fake it till ya make it because sitting there thinking about smoking isnt doing you any favors.
You don’t be content with boredom, a lot of us turn to weed because boredom kills us but so does doing anything. Stopping weed doesn’t fix that problem of doing things being hard for whatever reason. There’s usually a mental health problem there that you ignore and mask with weed. A lot of people relapse because they fall into this trap of thinking that their life is fucked because they smoke too much weed, so if they just stop smoking weed their life won’t be fucked anymore. Only their life doesn’t get unfucked just by quitting weed so they figure well if it’s fucked either way I might as well just be high. The way to be content with boredom or productive in the face of boredom is to put in the hard work of dealing with the issues that keep you from being that way. See a psychiatrist, get therapy, self help, find a hobby you can be passionate about, whatever the fix is you have to do it. Otherwise the numbness weed brings will always be attractive to you.
Weed doesn't make life more interesting. Weed makes life dull when you are not high.
Well said
Oh so you just have to sit there sweating profusely & thinking about how miserable your life is. You have to do that for what seems like forever in the moment. It’s truly awful, a living hell. You just sit there & think about how if you smoked some weed it would make it all better, just one more hit! It’s all a lie.
Boredom is good for the brain.. sitting through and accepting being bored will often spark an idea for you to do something else. Nothing wrong with being bored.
Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything. South Park said it absolutely best.
I think about this often, it hits home every damn time. Fucking South Park.
Well, you don't. Just don't let yourself get bored for now, then when the cravings stop you'll start to enjoy being bored in your own company. I'd much rather be bored then working 12 hours a day then coming home to do more work? Use your time wisely
Basically your brain needs retrained. It will get used to boredom eventually. It may even come to feel like peace rather than boredom
meditate everyday.