“Are you bored yet?” This is the most common question that people have been asking me since I’ve become a bit housebound thanks to some pregnancy dramas. At first, I was a little surprised to be asked. Then it kept happening, and I realised that obviously a lot of people think they would be bored if they were in my situation, “stuck” at home.

Of course, I’d much prefer to be still at work teaching, and also able to get out of the house a bit more (although I don’t miss the supermarket too much!), but I’ve never for a moment felt like I could get bored. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s just my personality type, and/or how much it is related to being a writer.

My current theory is that writers very rarely get bored. In my case, if I find myself in a boring situation, I find a way to make it interesting or useful for me. For example, last year I was “trapped” in a cinema having to watch a really bad, boring movie because it was part of a compulsory school excursion, and obviously the teacher can’t leave – but she can do something else! I had a notebook and pen in my bag (as always) and in the dim light coming from the movie screen, I made some notes about a story I was writing. Admittedly they were a bit difficult to read later, but thinking about that story stopped me from being bored.

Similarly, now that I’m home most of the time, I really can’t imagine getting bored. I have so many things I want to write, and on top of that, a million books I want to read. And that works out pretty well, because I need to make sure I don’t spend too long doing any one thing – I can’t sit, stand or lie down for long periods of time. Being forced to change tasks quite regularly is even better and keeps my writing fresh. And bored? I don’t have time to be bored.

So now I want to know what you think. Do you get bored? If you’re a writer, in particular, do you get bored less than other people? I’m curious. Please let me know in the comments.