We have very nearly abolished boredom. The moment a queue forms, a kettle boils or a gap appears in the day, the phone comes out to fill it. It feels like progress, never a dull moment. It may be quietly costing us something worth keeping.
What boredom is for
Boredom is uncomfortable, which is the point, it nudges us to do something, to seek out, to create. When the mind is left unstimulated, it does not switch off, it wanders, and that wandering is where a lot of creativity, planning and problem-solving quietly happens. Some of our best ideas arrive not when we are focused but when we are letting the mind drift in the shower or on a dull walk.
What we lose by filling every gap
By plugging every spare moment with a screen, we never let the mind wander. We swap the mild discomfort of boredom for a constant low buzz of stimulation that leaves us strangely restless and never quite rested.
- Leave the phone in your pocket in queues and waiting rooms
- Let small gaps in the day stay empty
- Take a walk with nothing to listen to
- Notice the urge to reach for stimulation, and sometimes resist it
Letting it back in
This is not a call to be bored all day, only to stop fearing the small pockets of nothing. A little boredom gives the mind room to wander, to rest, and to surprise you. The empty moments you keep filling may be exactly the ones your brain has been waiting for.