Endurance Innovation

96 - Boredom and Willpower with Drs. Wanja Wolff and James Danckert

Episode Summary

Dr. Wanja Wolff and Prof. James Danckert are on the show to cover the surprisingly interesting topic of boredom - and willpower too - as it pertains to endurance sport performance.

Episode Notes

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• 1:45 meet Dr. Wanja Wolff
• 2:15 meet Prof. James Danckert
• 5:00 the clinical definition of self control - aka willpower 
• 7:00 the clinical definition of boredom 
• 9:00 how prior self control exertion affects a subsequent endurance task.
• 12:30 how boredom may be a confound in above experiments
• 14:30 the very real struggle of boring easy workouts
• 18:00 boredom can occur in both under and over-aroused situations
• 22:00 the flow state: the opposite of boredom
• 25:00 the role of time in boredom 
• 26:30 boredom and mind wonder
• 27:45 boredom is relative in short vs long intervals 
• 31:15 the importance of meaning / your personal ‘why’
  • The advantage of even virtual competition
• 36:30 possible interventions to address boredom in training
  • Find your own meaning and create your own agency
  • Try social and/or competitive forms of the sport even if they are virtual
  • First step is recognition that you ARE bored
  • Don’t ignore it, rather try to understand why you are bored.
  • Deliberate mind wandering practice
  • Music, audiobooks, and podcasts