Nice piece on the power of boredom. I may describe this a bit more like “being present” in the moment. When we watch TV or scroll through algorithmically curated slop on social media, we are not truly “present” with ourselves.
Being bored, being present, not distracted, is super difficult, and while I probably wouldn’t recommend it all day long, a few moments of presence a day probably cannot hurt.
I agree with walking or hiking without earbuds. I do that almost daily and consider it the best time to think about what I have read that day or a problem. When I am done walking, I usually have an answer or a path forward to the problem.
Most of the great scientists and thinkers of the past used to walk a lot. Kierkegaard about the virtues of walking. “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk,” Kierkegaard advised a friend in despair. “Every day,” he went on to say, “I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
My wife and I try to take a daily morning walk just to talk too. This morning I did about 2 hrs of yard maintenance before pulling out a podcast because I'm falling behind but it was nice to just let the brain spin.
I realized a few months ago I’d gotten into the trap of never being bored; always wearing headphones, radio on, scrolling when sitting and waiting. I've tried pretty intentionally in the last few months to be ok with walking without music/podcasts, keeping my phone away when sitting and waiting, and letting my mind wander more. This is also a big agreement with my wife where if we are at dinner or sitting in a waiting room, we never use our phones. Its great for our relationship and allows us to communicate well.
Nice! It's really hard to slow down step back and do it. It's also a slippery slope to get into. I too have been trying harder and harder to do this and it's... well... hard!!
It is hard! We have an infinite number of ways to stay constantly stimulated and distracted so it takes a ton of work to disconnect. But, there are so many benefits to it.
We moved into a new building at work, and our leader gave us some decorative desktop items to make the office space more welcoming. I received a flower and a quote card that said, 'The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.' I've always appreciated that quote and remembered it, as it reminds me that spending time being bored can actually help you become more creative in other ways.
That's a great quote. At work so many people worry about the sidebar conversations distracting but I've found some of my greatest successes from sidebars that others would have called wasted time.
Sidebars have always been the best. A lot of times in broadcasting, sometimes in graphic production or filming and editing, I've experienced that it's the outtakes and sidebar conversations that could give you content or ideas to bolster an ad or feature, make it better if it fit the writers theme or script. I always appreciated the client who went out of their way to come back in if called, good people who are interested make all the difference. It's why brainstorms to generate and riff ideas are such an important part of a creative process.
Same thing in the tech world. It's why I find fully remote just doesn't work as well as hybrid. I don't need to be there all the time but we do need face to face.
I have a rule for myself. NEVER bring phone during long walks. I don't give a sh*t if anything happens. The 30 minutes won't change anything... Even if it does, is none of my business... Best rule I have for being creative and refreshed... Thanks for sharing, as always, fun to read and learn from!!!
When we moved to England when my children were 6 and 8, I was worried that our shipment of possessions didn't arrive until 10 days after our arrival. The kids had their large stuffed Pokemon and that was it. They found plenty to do with laundry baskets and various other items found in our rented house. Stairs! This house had stairs! When the shipment arrived, the kids didn't care much about the toys that arrived. Yes, those moving boxes were put to good use. A fort was built in the garage and somehow my daughter was rolled down a low hill in one of them. They were at their most creative.
Good stuff. I realized at some point that the very uncomfortable feeling that came over me every time I wasn't super active wasn't really a negative thing at all, and this does a good job of putting pen to ink to that effect.
I also think that focus is a true superpower, and you can't improve focus without the same uncomfortable feeling - getting used to it and then just not feeling it any more. In other words, boredom is a practice that can lead to greater focus if applied well.
And I find that letting myself unfocus, to strip away all the noise and let my brain think for itself is a really great way to refocus. It clears out a lot of clutter.
To highlight how terrible we are at dealing with boredom, I always bring up the relatively recent experiment where participants were left alone in a room for 15 minutes, with the only "activity" being the ability to give themselves electric shocks.
The majority of men (and a quarter of women) chose to zap themselves rather than just be alone with their thoughts for a while.
I'm quite guilty of this inability to be bored, and find myself often reach for my phone more often than I need to. You make lots of good suggestions for how to break the cycle, but even knowing them isn't a quick fix - you gotta make a very conscious and focused effort.
Reminiscing my adolescent years, I remember using items that were on the street and play with them. For example, I would find a rope and would explore many ways using the rope out of boredom, to eventually, I discover how to create waves with ropes. The discovery was so exciting, I would share that to either cousins or neighbor kids on the block with their jump-ropes. Fast forward to high school, I did a physics experiment on waves, and I was not surprised and found myself bored. However, the classmates around me found it fascinating, but I had to be the asshole to say "this is basic" annoyed my classmates and all.
Nice piece on the power of boredom. I may describe this a bit more like “being present” in the moment. When we watch TV or scroll through algorithmically curated slop on social media, we are not truly “present” with ourselves.
Being bored, being present, not distracted, is super difficult, and while I probably wouldn’t recommend it all day long, a few moments of presence a day probably cannot hurt.
Very good points.
I agree with walking or hiking without earbuds. I do that almost daily and consider it the best time to think about what I have read that day or a problem. When I am done walking, I usually have an answer or a path forward to the problem.
Most of the great scientists and thinkers of the past used to walk a lot. Kierkegaard about the virtues of walking. “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk,” Kierkegaard advised a friend in despair. “Every day,” he went on to say, “I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
My wife and I try to take a daily morning walk just to talk too. This morning I did about 2 hrs of yard maintenance before pulling out a podcast because I'm falling behind but it was nice to just let the brain spin.
I found the article that I could not able to find earlier today about Darwin and others:
https://lithub.com/on-the-link-between-great-thinking-and-obsessive-walking/
It is based on the book “First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human by Jeremy DeSilva”
I realized a few months ago I’d gotten into the trap of never being bored; always wearing headphones, radio on, scrolling when sitting and waiting. I've tried pretty intentionally in the last few months to be ok with walking without music/podcasts, keeping my phone away when sitting and waiting, and letting my mind wander more. This is also a big agreement with my wife where if we are at dinner or sitting in a waiting room, we never use our phones. Its great for our relationship and allows us to communicate well.
Nice! It's really hard to slow down step back and do it. It's also a slippery slope to get into. I too have been trying harder and harder to do this and it's... well... hard!!
It is hard! We have an infinite number of ways to stay constantly stimulated and distracted so it takes a ton of work to disconnect. But, there are so many benefits to it.
Totally agree.
Such an informatively boring article but ironically super fast-paced, engaging, and fun.
lol. Thanks!
We moved into a new building at work, and our leader gave us some decorative desktop items to make the office space more welcoming. I received a flower and a quote card that said, 'The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.' I've always appreciated that quote and remembered it, as it reminds me that spending time being bored can actually help you become more creative in other ways.
That's a great quote. At work so many people worry about the sidebar conversations distracting but I've found some of my greatest successes from sidebars that others would have called wasted time.
Sidebars have always been the best. A lot of times in broadcasting, sometimes in graphic production or filming and editing, I've experienced that it's the outtakes and sidebar conversations that could give you content or ideas to bolster an ad or feature, make it better if it fit the writers theme or script. I always appreciated the client who went out of their way to come back in if called, good people who are interested make all the difference. It's why brainstorms to generate and riff ideas are such an important part of a creative process.
Same thing in the tech world. It's why I find fully remote just doesn't work as well as hybrid. I don't need to be there all the time but we do need face to face.
I have a rule for myself. NEVER bring phone during long walks. I don't give a sh*t if anything happens. The 30 minutes won't change anything... Even if it does, is none of my business... Best rule I have for being creative and refreshed... Thanks for sharing, as always, fun to read and learn from!!!
I literally just did this today and found myself 1. not missing it and 2. not missing everything around me.
When we moved to England when my children were 6 and 8, I was worried that our shipment of possessions didn't arrive until 10 days after our arrival. The kids had their large stuffed Pokemon and that was it. They found plenty to do with laundry baskets and various other items found in our rented house. Stairs! This house had stairs! When the shipment arrived, the kids didn't care much about the toys that arrived. Yes, those moving boxes were put to good use. A fort was built in the garage and somehow my daughter was rolled down a low hill in one of them. They were at their most creative.
That's fantastic and a wonderful example.
Good stuff. I realized at some point that the very uncomfortable feeling that came over me every time I wasn't super active wasn't really a negative thing at all, and this does a good job of putting pen to ink to that effect.
I also think that focus is a true superpower, and you can't improve focus without the same uncomfortable feeling - getting used to it and then just not feeling it any more. In other words, boredom is a practice that can lead to greater focus if applied well.
And I find that letting myself unfocus, to strip away all the noise and let my brain think for itself is a really great way to refocus. It clears out a lot of clutter.
Agree. It's similar to a good night's sleep in a way: you really need that time to process things.
To highlight how terrible we are at dealing with boredom, I always bring up the relatively recent experiment where participants were left alone in a room for 15 minutes, with the only "activity" being the ability to give themselves electric shocks.
The majority of men (and a quarter of women) chose to zap themselves rather than just be alone with their thoughts for a while.
I'm quite guilty of this inability to be bored, and find myself often reach for my phone more often than I need to. You make lots of good suggestions for how to break the cycle, but even knowing them isn't a quick fix - you gotta make a very conscious and focused effort.
I'd probably shock myself just to see what it was all about! 😜
And yes, it is very conscious and focused. It's not easy.
Same. I'd try it at least once for sure. People are weird.
Walking—yes!!
Great essay Michael.
I love going for walks in the morning with my wife. We just chat and soak up morning sun.
🙏us too
Reminiscing my adolescent years, I remember using items that were on the street and play with them. For example, I would find a rope and would explore many ways using the rope out of boredom, to eventually, I discover how to create waves with ropes. The discovery was so exciting, I would share that to either cousins or neighbor kids on the block with their jump-ropes. Fast forward to high school, I did a physics experiment on waves, and I was not surprised and found myself bored. However, the classmates around me found it fascinating, but I had to be the asshole to say "this is basic" annoyed my classmates and all.
Lol. My life growing up was a lot like that. Out mucking through swamp or fishing or building a fort (if you can't tell I lived out in the country)