3521: You Spend Money Because You’re Bored by Charlie Brown on Intentional Spending

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily. You Spend Money Because Youre Bored by Charlie Brown of SimpleAndStraightforward.substack.com And I'm Justin Malik, your personal narrator. But on Sundays, I share an episode from a different podcast in our Optimal Network with today coming from Optimal Finance Daily. And you can find Optimal Finance Daily wherever you're listening to this. So with that, let's get right to the bonus episode and Diana's commentary as we optimize your life.

[00:00:32] You Spend Money Because Youre Bored by Charlie Brown of SimpleAndStraightforward.substack.com Humans spend roughly 30% of their time bored out of their brains. And companies know exactly how to capitalize on that. We are very, very good at stemming boredom with spending money. It's been like that forever. Did anyone else spend time at the mall as a 90s kid because there was literally nothing else to do?

[00:01:01] Nowadays, you don't need to go anywhere because there's the internet. Amazon, Shine, Etsy, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Companies that are very happy to serve you some boredom-zapping purchasing options 24 hours a day. And we're only too happy to oblige them. There's another way. Stem the boredom. Stem the spending.

[00:01:26] What you really want is to be profoundly stimulated. With access to 24-7 news, as much social media as you want, and any movie or TV show at the touch of a button, we arguably live in an overstimulated world. So why the boredom? The problem lies in empty calorie stimulation. Social media can hold your attention for hours and still make you feel like you've had your soul sucked out of your eyes.

[00:01:54] If I fall down the Instagram real rabbit hole, I can easily spend an hour watching utter crap and feel more empty and listless than I did when I started. See? Empty calories. The same can be said for boredom-fueled expenditure. You're looking for something to stimulate your senses. A little jolt of instant gratification you think will do the trick. Not only that, but the item you buy could distract you from future boredom. Win-win. Except shopping through

[00:02:24] boredom is about as far from a win-win situation as you can get. It's expensive. You'll probably regret it. And it's not a long-term solution to your boredom. Like social media, it's empty calories. What you really need is something more satisfying. I'm not going to tell you to get a hobby. It's the first thing anyone says when someone is routinely bored. You need a hobby. There are three

[00:02:50] major problems with hobbies. First, many people have no idea what will hold their attention for long enough to turn it into a hobby. Second, hobbies can be supremely expensive. Just ask my brother about his board games and Warhammer figures. Both of them are freaking pricey. Third, unless that hobby becomes a true passion, it can be easily forgotten. The remnants of it gathering dust and making you feel

[00:03:16] guilty every time you think about how much money and time you wasted on them. Hobbies are great, but if they were enough to stop you from shopping through boredom, no hobbyist would ever succumb to the siren song of Amazon and the like. And I'd bet my bottom dollar that they do. The answer to stemming the boredom lies in the most unlikely place. And that is to understand that there are two types of boredom.

[00:03:43] One is superficial boredom. Philosophers say that this is when we're held in limbo by a situation that restricts us from doing what we want to be doing, while simultaneously being left empty insofar as the situation does not satisfy us. Like a boring as hell meeting or sitting at home all day with nothing to do. Then there is the profound boredom, also known as the answer to your boredom prayers.

[00:04:09] Profound boredom goes beyond the superficiality into this terrifying place. A deep state of indifference towards oneself and to the world, leading to an existential discomfort in which people struggle with their sense of self. As horrible as it sounds, profound boredom is the bit when life actually becomes interesting. Because it's only once you reach this state that you re-evaluate your life to

[00:04:36] truly get to the bottom of your boredom woes. The research says that if you sit with your profound boredom, you can actually start to build your life in a different way that bypasses superficial boredom. Thus, you can bypass the desire for empty calorie boredom balkers like spending all your money on you don't need. Here's how to do it minus the existential dread. Rebuilding your life to one that

[00:05:03] is less boring and includes less spending might sound like a tall order, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, there's one really simple, frictionless way to start this re-evaluation process. Step outside your house. I've seen it hundreds of times. People whose life largely remains within their four walls look for more stimulation and boredom blockers, like shopping, than those who

[00:05:29] spend more time out of the house. I know from personal experience, the longer I spend indoors, the more bored I feel. I'm not talking always about visiting bars and restaurants, and I'm certainly not talking about heading to the mall. I'm talking about taking a walk or going for a run or climbing a hill. I'm talking about wandering around cities and taking it all in, even if you've seen yours a

[00:05:54] thousand times before. Stepping outside your house has two major boredom blocking benefits. One, it stems superficial boredom in an easy, cheap way. It's hard to be bored when you're faced with more than just the contents of your living room. Two, it's well documented that walking does things to your brain that nothing else can. Most notably, walking strengthens mental flickering, which is

[00:06:20] when your brain moves between big picture mental states, such as our big future plans or even what we're going to do tomorrow, and specific task-focused work. You need to flicker between these states in order to do creative work. That's how important associations get made. In other words, getting outside the house can act as an aid in effectively re-evaluating your life into something better,

[00:06:44] something that does not include stemming boredom with spending money. It hits both the superficial and the profound boredom, all for the low, low price of a single pair of sneakers. The too-long-didn't-read summary is this. Boredom is a funny goat. We loathe it, but it's part of the human condition, something every single one of us has to go through on the regular. But because we hate it,

[00:07:09] we try to stem it. Companies know this and use it to their advantage to get you to spend, spend, spend. But spending doesn't work. It's never worked as an effective boredom blocker, and that's never going to change. Instead, you got to sit with that superficial boredom until it morphs into profound boredom. It's only then you can rebuild your life into something that is A,

[00:07:34] less boring, and B, less reliant on empty calorie stimuli like social media and shopping. I'll see you on the other side. You just listened to the post titled, You Spend Money Because You're Bored by Charlie Brown of simpleandstraightforward.substack.com. The grind never stops as a business owner. When you're hiring, you need a partner that works as

[00:08:01] hard as you do, and that's where LinkedIn Jobs comes in. We've been lucky finding our team here at Optimal Living Daily, and I think LinkedIn Jobs would have taken luck out of the equation, finding us the best quickly. With LinkedIn Jobs, posting your job for free is just the beginning. You can pay to promote it for three times more qualified candidates, and their new feature helps craft the perfect job description in minutes, putting your job opportunity in front of qualified talent

[00:08:27] that matters. Plus, you can boost your reach by adding a hashtag hiring frame to your profile picture to double your qualified applicants. Super simple, yet super effective. And the results speak for themselves. Approximately 72% of small and medium-sized businesses on LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high-quality candidates. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash selection.

[00:08:53] That's linkedin.com slash selection to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. It's true that companies take advantage of our boredom and offer us an escape through shopping. However, there are other psychological and emotional reasons that influence our spending habits. For example, social pressures, emotions such as stress and anxiety, and the need for instant

[00:09:17] gratification are all factors that contribute to consumerism. Understanding these factors can help us make more conscious and mindful purchasing decisions. I've found it helpful to focus on building habits that promote well-being and reduce stress. Meditation, exercise, spending time with loved ones, or pursuing activities that align with our values and interests can all be helpful in

[00:09:41] managing boredom and avoiding mindless spending. And I absolutely agree with the assessment in this article about how social media is basically melting our brains. I find social media to be the fast food of social connection. If I'm starving, a happy meal from McDonald's will absolutely satiate me. But if I ate that for every meal, I'd turn into the super-size-me guy.

[00:10:06] In-person connection is where you're really going to get the nutritional value you need. And stepping outside of your house and going for a walk is a great way to do that. Just yesterday, I took my dog Buddy for a walk and ended up meeting a sweet older couple sitting on their porch enjoying the weather. Their dog had just passed away, and she looked a lot like Buddy. So I sat there with them for about 20 minutes, gushing about how much we love our furry friends.

[00:10:36] Buddy got all the pets, treats, and we left with an enormous bone for him to enjoy. It was the highlight of my day and cost me nothing but my time and willingness to engage. And that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Finance Daily. Thank you so much for joining today and every day. And I'll see you again tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.