I have developed a mentality whereby I can enjoy the most mundane of activities. I enjoy washing up, hovering, filling out forms, performing repetitive drills, brushing my teeth, frequent car journeys, folding leaflets, filing...
I never get bored because of the way my mind thinks about these activities.
One thing you can do is day dream, but by definition that means you lose concentration. Sometimes you really have to concentrate on boring things.
What follows is a method of obtaining total concentration on really dull things... and enjoying it.
The benefits range from creating less mistakes, to aiding memory; but my favourite benefit is that life becomes a bit more interesting.
The danger!
The main problem with this system is that you can become sidetracked from doing important or really interesting activities because you start enjoying everything. So it's important to work on your discipline as well.
For a few years, however, I became so engrossed in everything that I lost overall focus of what I was doing.
For example when I was doing my art course, I would regularly go to the library to do 20 minutes worth of research on a particular artist and their work. I would enter the library with a clear idea of what I wanted to do and what I was looking for...
Hours later I'd find I was being kicked out the library because it was 9pm and they were closing. I'd look out the window and realise was now dark and then I'd notice my stomach rumbling and realise I hadn't been eating.
But at least I'd done lots of research.
Except none of it was relevant!
Looking back I realised what I'd done. I'd gone in the library looking for a particular type of book on a particular artist. But as I scanned the shelves I would come across another book that looked interesting. Even though it had nothing to do with what I was studying I would pick that book up, open it, take it back to my desk, and read it from cover to cover.
Doing this costs a lot of time!
I've managed to train myself out of this habit now, but it was a big problem for a long time.
So if you think you can hack that level of concentration, here is one of the things I did to achieve it...
How to enjoy the mundane - the artist's mentality
It's probably no coincidence that I developed this level of concentration at the same time I was studying on an art course. It was art that gave me the tool; I just had to apply it to new situations.
So the first step is art - more specifically: drawing.
This mode of concentration requires us to access a state of mind which is often associated with the right side of the brain. In this state we lose any interest in sequential processes such as language, mathematics and logical thinking. Instead we become more interested in the relationships between line, colour, texture, and how things generally fit together as a whole.
Drawing encompasses this right brain style of thinking. When we draw, language, symbols and even time become unimportant. Instead form, colour, shade, line, and relationships between these things have our focus.
In this state, everything flows and takes on a strange beauty and fascination.
When you're in this state it is practically impossible to become bored.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
In Betty Edwards' wonderful book 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' she used the theories of right and left brain thinking in order to teach people to draw. Her idea was to set people exercises which would force their left-brain to shut down and encourage their right-brain to take over.
Her methods worked extremely well, and she was able to teach those who couldn't get into the correct state to do so. Suddenly her student's work improved dramatically.
I don't think I could explain the technique any better than she does in her book, so if you are a beginner who wants to learn to draw, I strongly suggest grabbing a copy of this book.
Learning to draw will truly give you a whole new way of looking at the world.
From drawing to the enjoyment of the mundane
Once you have achieved the state of flow with drawing you need to transfer that feeling to those boring activities. You may want to try using what NLP calls anchoring, but I find that unnecessary.
As soon as I realise I'm becoming bored with an activity, I just imagine that I'm drawing the scene. The more you practice drawing, the quicker it is to switch to this mode of thinking. As soon as I do this, I begin to look at the activity in another light. I become fascinated by the changing shapes as I manipulate an object, I enjoy the excitement at how my writing on a form fits into the spaces in the box, and I take delight in the different textures on the knife I'm chopping carrots with.
It's a wonderful switch in your state of mind which produces an instant difference in the way you perceive it.
Building on the state
This state can be enhanced further by bringing in more of the senses than just the visual. Listen to how your pen sounds on the paper as you write. Really feel the mechanism in your hand as it presses down on the vegetables you are cutting. How does pressure change; how does texture change? What can you smell? What can you taste? Enjoy your self!