When Black Friday Meets Boredom: Why We Shop When We Have Nothing Better to Do
Thanksgiving weekend creates a perfect storm of boredom spending triggers. Understanding why you're vulnerable is the first step to mindful choices.
It’s 10 PM on Thanksgiving. The dishes are done, relatives have finally gone home, and you’re exhausted but somehow restless. You pick up your phone “just to look” at Black Friday deals. Three hours later, your cart has seventeen items, and you’re not really sure how it happened.
If that sounds familiar, welcome to the club.
Research from Credit Karma shows that 22% of emotional spending happens when people are bored. For Gen Z, that number jumps to 58%. And holiday weekends? They’re basically engineered for this exact scenario.
The Holiday Perfect Storm
Thanksgiving weekend throws everything at you at once. You have unstructured time, but you’re emotionally drained. Your everyday routines are disrupted. Family dynamics might have left you feeling restless, frustrated, or just plain weird. And every brand you’ve ever interacted with is flooding your phone with “limited time” offers designed to feel urgent.
Add in the cultural pressure. Everyone’s talking about deals. Social media is full of haul videos. There’s a strange FOMO that kicks in even when you don’t actually need anything.
Your brain notices all this stimulation and discomfort, and it wants relief. Fast.
What’s Really Happening
Here’s something most people don’t realize: boredom isn’t “nothing.” It’s not the absence of feelings. Boredom is an active, uncomfortable emotional state. Your brain registers it almost like physical discomfort, and it desperately wants it to stop.
Shopping provides instant relief. You get the dopamine hit of browsing and discovering. You feel a sense of control when choosing between options. And there’s that pleasant daydream that happens when you imagine your future self using whatever you’re about to buy.
The problem isn’t wanting that relief. That’s completely human. The problem is that the relief doesn’t last very long, and you’re often left with a cart full of things that don’t actually address what you were feeling in the first place.
This pattern has a name in psychology: seeking behavior. Your brain isn’t really after the purchase—it’s after the hunt. The anticipation feels better than the acquisition. That’s why browsing can go on for hours while the actual buying feels almost anticlimactic.
Three Things to Try This Weekend
You don’t have to white-knuckle your way through Black Friday. These aren’t rules—just experiments.
Notice the urge without acting on it. When you feel the pull to open a shopping app, pause and get curious. Are you bored? Tired? Avoiding something? Lonely? You don’t have to do anything with the answer. Just notice.
Try the ten-minute pause. If you catch yourself mid-scroll, do something else for ten minutes first. Text a friend. Take a walk. Make tea. Stretch. The urge often passes on its own when you give it a little space.
Lower the stakes. If you end up shopping anyway, that’s okay. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about starting to notice the pattern so you can eventually make different choices when you’re ready.
What’s Coming Next
Over the next several posts, we’ll dig deeper into the neuroscience behind all of this—why boredom feels so unbearable, what your brain is actually seeking when it reaches for shopping apps, and how to build sustainable alternatives that actually work.
For now, know that the pull you feel toward shopping when you’re understimulated is entirely normal. Millions of people experience it. The retailers know about it. They design for it.
You’re not the problem. And understanding what’s happening is the first step toward something different.
This content is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or therapeutic advice. Consider speaking with qualified professionals for personalized guidance.