In a hyperconnected world, boredom is an endangered species. We can’t stand an ounce of mental downtime, so as soon as we begin to feel even a little bit bored, we mindlessly grab our phones or look for other instant stimulation. Inherent in our DNA is this idea that boredom is bad: It’s a waste of time and we need to get rid of it. But neuroscience tells a counterintuitive story: The moments that we think of as opportunities to engage in our own mental supercomputing are actually when we do some of our best work. When you are truly bored, your brain seems to reach out in all directions in an urgent search for something to do, like a petulant toddler who has tired of every toy within reach and looks around for a toy that seems to have been overlooked. A state of mind that can be extremely valuable is boredom.
The Fountain of Creativity Inside an Uninspired Mind
Speaking of which, boredom is the soil in which genius grows. When you aren’t focused on the outside world or a particular job, your mind is free to come up with bizarre associations from among unrelated thoughts. That’s why some of your most promising ideas tend to surface when you’re in the shower, taking a walk or doing something very mundane.
What happens in your brain during boredom:
- Memory consolidation strengthens important neural pathways
- Creative problem-solving emerges through unconscious processing
- Future planning allows your mind to rehearse upcoming scenarios
- Self-reflection helps process emotions and experiences
Your mind can practice future events Also, planning the future enables your mind to practice what you believe Also, planning for the future helps your mind to simulate what you think will happen
Even something as seemingly straightforward as a game of tongits with friends (in which moments of waiting and anticipation are baked into the play) can work to reboot your overstimulated brain and cultivate spur-of-the-moment thinking.
The Modern Boredom Crisis
Our never-bored omniconnected life creates an anti-stillness conspiracy. Research reveals that we’d rather be in physical pain than be alone with our thoughts for only a quarter hour. This fear of tedium is rewiring the neural circuitry in our brains so that we have an even harder time holding on to the ability to think deeply, freely and creatively.
The fear of being bored has led to shorter and shorter attention spans and an inability to focus. We forget how to tolerate slower, deeper forms of thinking, and our ideas may never have a chance of developing.
To Remake the Phone Call, First You Have to Tear Down the Phone
The art of embracing boredom is something that we actually need to practice, so overstimulated have we become. Begin with baby steps and try to fit in times when you simply put all devices away and let your mind wander. This might feel strange at first, but with time, you’ll find the fertile mental landscape that opens up for you when you’re not constantly cramming your brain with external input.
Wrapping Up
Boredom isn’t the enemy of productivity — it’s one of its most powerful allies. In fleeing your own thoughts, in getting bored more than you’re otherwise inclined, you might just be relieving your brain to do the behavioural analysis — and you avoid cognitive fatigue. Next time you’re bored, resist the temptation to distract yourself straight away. Instead, welcome those silent moments as a chance for your mind to do what it’s best at: thinking, inventing, and expanding.
