A cure for boredom? Do something less boring.

Unsplash/Diana Polekhina

Thanks to OZ’s Joe Plummer for sending a summary of a Journal of Consumer Research article that discusses the art of sticking to a boring task.

The key is distraction. People who were asked to listen to do something enjoyable at the same time as the boring, mindless task stuck with the boring task longer.

For example, people brushed their teeth 30% longer when they simultaneously watched an immersive video from Animal Planet.  People asked to repeatedly type two letters stayed with it longer when they listened to an audio book at the same time.

However, there may be a Goldilocks effect. The research suggests the distracting immersive task cannot be too immersive.  If that immersive task requires a lot of mental bandwidth – like adding a series of numbers -- people tend to stick with the boring task for less time.

This is a useful insight for behavior change. Marketers often want people to do boring things – like brushing their teeth, exercising, or washing their hands. A successful nudge may involve distracting them (slightly) from the task at hand.