Boredom is maybe one of the strangest of feelings – a weird combination of listlessness and restlessness, a blandness, a graying of your daily life, just a few steps up from the “why bother” of depression.

Here are some tips of getting yourself jumpstarted:

1. Sit.

Whether the feeling of boredom creeps up on you or just suddenly descends, it’s easy to go on autopilot, drift towards your default behaviors, be it binge-watching or binge-eating, trying to kill time, kill the feeling. Instead, try slowing down. Sit down, take a couple of deep breaths, push aside the “shoulds,” the you-hate-this-feeling thoughts, and wait. For what? To see what stirs up into a “want” that you feel in your gut, or an idea that has that twinge of excitement. Don’t scramble, stay put, give yourself the space to see what emerges.