Youngsters get bored very easily. But children’s author, screenwriter, educator, and mindfulness coach Neera Maini Srivastav is back with her sixth book, Hack The Boredom Code, which focuses on humorously assisting the GenY generation in overcoming boredom and realising their potential.
“During the pandemic, we were all steeped into a new world order, replete with fear, confusion, mayhem and loss. Monotony had taken over our lives and the only conversation I heard everywhere was ‘I am bored’. Irrespective of age, profession, demographics, that was the only state of mind that was rampant. Including me! That’s when I stared at this so-called monster and wondered if there was anything beyond it. That wonder led me to explore the possibility of writing a book on it. The pandemic and the times it ushered surely was the inspiration for this book,” says Neera.
The book is divided into three sections: Mind, Body, and Spirit, and each section offers advice, tricks, and solutions that will help you beat boredom in a pleasant, interesting way. The book is a practical guide for young adults who want to live more purposeful, healthy, and stimulating lives despite their extremely stressful daily routines.
“It is ironical that the more engaged the youth is (thanks to the invasion of technology in our lives), the more bored they are! The paradox is interesting and the answer may lie in the overdependence of the generation on external stimuli. Activities like engaging with nature, developing hobbies, seeking adventure outdoors are pursuits that lead you back to the self. That is currently missing. They are not using their own inherent human capacities anymore. That’s where the gap is. And that gap is ‘boredom’ that seems to be increasing for this ‘always-on’ generation,” she says.
The book aims to bring happiness to troubled young people by offering a variety of “creative” ways to deal with the modern scourge of boredom, including a “boredom tracker” for journaling. “I believe well-being needs to be looked at holistically. It is an amalgamation of mind, body spirit in total harmony. One cannot exist without the other. That’s why I used this segmentation for the hacks in the book. I went deep-diving into conversations with all kinds of people, coaches, mentors, philosophies, my own reserves of learnings and insights gained through the knowledge from various modalities that I learnt over the years. The tips and tricks were curated as I navigated through the huge mass of ideas and experiences,” says the author.
Although her books (except 1) have been categorized into the ‘Child/young adult’ space, they have been read and appreciated by adults too!
