Don't let boredom frustrate you into breaking COVID-19 rules: UW prof

'Boredom opens the door for people to break the rules, but it's not necessarily the only thing,' UW Professor James Danckert

As many long for any sense of normalcy in these unprecedented times, we can't let boredom get the best of us.

"Boredom opens the door for people to break the rules," James Danckert, a University of Waterloo professor tells The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS, adding it's not necessarily the only thing, pointing also to people who simply underestimate the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There's also people with lower levels of self-control, he says, that could be prone to boredom to the point of just throwing caution to the wind.

Danckert says there's no one-size-fits-all to solving this problem, as we all have different tastes and preferences.

But he says we need to be a bit calmer about our boredom.

"I think when we're bored, we're very restless and agitated and frustrated," Danckert notes, "And if we let that frustration get the better of us, then we might be more likely to do things like breaking the rules of social distancing."

He says by taking a pause and looking around, there are things to do, even amid the pandemic.

That includes getting to go outside and enjoying some of the warmer temperatures, but doing so in a responsible way, including the following of public health guidelines.