Attention Talk Radio · Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG

Why Boredom Matters More Than You Think with ADHD

September 17, 2025·40 min·3 clips

Boredom is not just having nothing to do—it's wanting to do something but being unable to engage in satisfying activity.

Boredom gets a closer look here. Jeff Copper frames it through ADHD, then gives the guest room to make a practical case for pausing before calling boredom unbearable. The first step is restraint. Instead of pushing the moment away, the guest talks about turning inward and noticing what is actually happening. That takes reps. The conversation compares it to mindfulness: attention leaves the breath, then gets brought back. Jeff stretches that idea into cognitive exercise, meditation, and the small act of catching attention when it wanders. Gratitude comes in as another practice, and his point is plain. Problems grab attention fast. Good things are much easier to delay, miss, or treat as background noise. So the work has to be deliberate. Writing down gratitude, even for something small, can help shift the emotional direction. The episode keeps a coaching feel. It is less about boredom as an annoyance and more about boredom as a prompt to practice. Near the end, Jeff connects clarity with motivation and sets it against uncertainty and avoidance. That lands especially well for ADHD. When the target is fuzzy, avoidance can feel almost automatic. When the target is clear, the mind has somewhere to go. The guest's advice stays grounded: boredom does not need to feel pleasant to be useful. Notice it, practice with it, then choose the next focus.

As heard by us

Boredom is treated as a cue to notice, reset, and work with attention instead of dismissing it.

Attention Talk Radio treats boredom in ADHD as something to observe, not just a fog to push through. Jeff Copper makes the case for pausing, looking inward, and treating that attention work as a practice that takes repetition and effort.

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Why you'd press play

When boredom starts pushing you into avoidance, this gives you a grounded reset.

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