Finding Joy in the Mundane
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For most people in the world, our days follow a pretty similar rhythm. We spend most of our time commuting, studying or working, with whatever’s left belonging to the quiet hours of the evening. Others have their shifts the other way around, and some stay longer for overtime.
Fortunately, these routines—no matter how dull—keep us alive.
But then, it struck me. This cycle is something we’ll likely repeat for the rest of our lives.
Still, I refuse to believe life has to feel boring. And no, I’m not telling you to suddenly love doing the dishes.
During the week, everything feels like a checklist to get through. I’m so focused on what’s next that I forget to notice what’s here. The issue is perhaps what we choose to do with that fact. We spend so much energy viewing the steady rhythm of our days as obstacles to be endured while we wait for the weekend.
But if we look at the simple math of a life, these grand happy times are statistically few and far between. The vast majority of our time is spent in the routine, the ordinary, the ‘unremarkable’.
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And if we choose to categorize 70% of our daily experience as a waiting period—as something to feel miserable about—then we are, by default, choosing to be sad for the majority of our existence. We end up missing the most of our life while it’s actually happening.
The alternative is not to magically make Monday feel like a holiday, but to simply acknowledge the inherent power of choice we hold over our attention.
It’s definitely different for everyone. But it’s never a secret formula to live a happy life. Our brains are surprisingly simple—small moments of pleasure, curiosity, or novelty can light up the same reward circuits as pleasant experiences.
It could be you taking a different route home, changing your coffee order, or simply sitting at the park while waiting for rush hour to pass. Sometimes, it’s just about noticing what’s already there. Happiness doesn’t always come from doing more.
Maybe boredom doesn’t have to be misery. If we can’t change the routine to how we like it, we can choose how to live within it.
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Anggie is the English editor at Leaderonomics, where creating content is an integral part of her daily work. She is never without her trusty companion: a steaming cup of green tea or iced latte.
