Learn Hardcore Russian: Если делать одно и то же каждый день, жизнь кажется скучной, поэтому я стараюсь делать что‑то иначе. - If you do the same thing every day, life seems boring, so I try to do something differently.

Если делать одно и то же каждый день really means Если человек / если я / если ты делаешь одно и то же каждый день – If one / if I / if you do the same thing every day.
The infinitive construction sounds more general and impersonal, like a proverb or general life observation.
You could say Если я делаю одно и то же каждый день, but that sounds more specifically about me and less like a general truth about life.

Could you use когда instead of если here? What is the difference?

You could say:

Когда делаешь одно и то же каждый день, жизнь кажется скучной…

Both если and когда can be used for general, repeated situations. The nuance:

если – more like a condition: if you do the same thing every day, then life seems boring (conditional cause–effect).
когда – more like whenever / when that happens in general.

In this sentence, если emphasizes the conditional relationship: under that condition, life seems boring. Когда would still be correct, just slightly less “logical” and more “temporal” in feeling.

What exactly does одно и то же mean, and why is it in the neuter form?

Одно и то же is a very common fixed phrase meaning the same thing.

Literally it comes from один и тот же (the same), which agrees in gender and number:

masculine: один и тот же
feminine: одна и та же
neuter: одно и то же
plural: одни и те же

In делать одно и то же, the idea is to do the same thing (over and over). The “thing” is abstract, so Russian uses the neuter form одно и то же as a kind of default. You don’t need to match it to any specific noun here; it’s a set expression.

Why is it жизнь кажется скучной, not жизнь скучная?

Both are grammatically possible, but they are different:

Жизнь скучная. – Life is boring. (a direct statement, more objective-sounding)
Жизнь кажется скучной. – Life seems boring. (emphasizes a subjective impression)

Казаться = to seem / to appear. Using кажется adds the nuance “it feels that way (to someone), in my perception” rather than stating it as a plain fact.
So the sentence is not just claiming that life is boring; it’s saying that under that condition, life seems boring.

Why is скучной in that form? What case is it, and what is the rule?

Скучной here is feminine singular instrumental:
жизнь (fem. nom.) + кажется + скучной (fem. instr.).

With verbs like:

быть (to be)
становиться / стать (to become)
казаться / показаться (to seem)
оставаться (to remain)

Russian often uses the instrumental case for the predicate adjective or noun:

Она была счастлива / счастливой.
Он стал врачом.
Жизнь кажется скучной.

Nominative is sometimes possible (especially in short form adjectives or colloquial speech), but after казаться, the instrumental скучной is the standard, neutral choice.

Why is the verb делать (imperfective) used, not сделать?

Imperfective (делать) is used for:

repeated / habitual actions
general truths
ongoing processes

Here the meaning is doing the same thing every day – a repeated, regular action. That’s why the imperfective делать is correct.

Сделать (perfective) would suggest a single completed action (to do once), which does not fit the idea of a daily habit:

Если сделать одно и то же один раз… – If you do the same thing once… (one-time, not habitual)

What does поэтому do here? Is it like “so” or “therefore” in English?

Yes. Поэтому means therefore / so / that’s why. It introduces a result or consequence of the previous clause:

…жизнь кажется скучной, поэтому я стараюсь…
…life seems boring, therefore / so I try…

A few notes:

It’s separated from the previous clause by a comma.
It behaves like a linking adverb rather than a pure conjunction: you can move it for emphasis in some contexts (e.g. Именно поэтому… – that’s exactly why…).

You could roughly think of the structure as:
[cause], поэтому [result].

What does стараюсь делать mean exactly? Why стараюсь plus infinitive?

Стараться means to try / to make an effort. It’s reflexive (ends in -ся) and is usually followed by an infinitive:

Я стараюсь делать. – I try to do.
Я стараюсь не опаздывать. – I try not to be late.
Мы стараемся помогать. – We try to help.

So я стараюсь делать что‑то иначе literally is I try to do something differently.
The reflexive form стараться focuses on the effort you’re making, not on whether you succeed.

Why is the verb делать repeated: если делать… поэтому я стараюсь делать…? Could it be omitted?

In Russian, repeating the verb is very normal and often preferred for clarity and rhythm, especially when there’s some distance between clauses:

Если много работать, устаёшь, поэтому стараюсь работать меньше.

You could omit the second делать and say:

…поэтому я стараюсь что‑то иначе.

but then иначе has nothing clear to attach to, and the phrase feels incomplete or odd. Иначе describes how you делать something, so keeping делать makes the sentence natural and clear: делать что‑то иначе = to do something in a different way.

What is the difference between что‑то and что‑нибудь here? Could you say делать что‑нибудь иначе?

Что‑то and что‑нибудь are both indefinite pronouns, but they differ in nuance:

что‑то – something (specific but unknown to the speaker); neutral/positive.
что‑нибудь – anything / something or other / whatever; more vague, often used in questions, conditionals, or when you don’t care what exactly.

In this sentence:

я стараюсь делать что‑то иначе suggests I try to do something differently (some concrete things, I’m trying to change my routine somehow).

Я стараюсь делать что‑нибудь иначе would sound more like I try to do *anything differently – it’s weaker, more random, less purposeful.
So *что‑то is the better choice for “I’m deliberately trying to change something in my life.”

What does иначе mean here, and could you use по‑другому instead?

Иначе means differently / in another way / otherwise. In делать что‑то иначе, it modifies делать:

делать иначе – to do (things) differently
делать что‑то иначе – to do something differently

You can definitely use по‑другому; it’s very common and nearly synonymous:

…я стараюсь делать что‑то по‑другому.

Nuance:

иначе is a bit more neutral or slightly bookish.
по‑другому sounds very natural and everyday.

In most contexts, including this sentence, they are interchangeable.