When was the last time you let yourself sit in boredom? How long was it before you reached for your phone or skimmed through Netflix? It’s probably been a while since our brains and bodies rarely let ourselves get to that point. When we find ourselves lacking excitement, we turn to the first hit of dopamine we can find.
Naturally, as humans, we aim to ward off any feelings of discomfort when they get too close. Boredom can strike when you feel uninspired by the task at hand. It can also knock when you want to be doing something but aren’t exactly sure what you’d rather be doing. Either way, it feels dull and unenthused.
While typically viewed as a negative, let’s explore how letting yourself sit in the discomfort of boredom can benefit you and lead to creative breakthroughs.
Shocked-
When boredom strikes, although you’re not in any danger, understimulation can be an extremely uncomfortable sensation. A study found that when participants were left alone in a lab room with no external stimuli and a shock button, although many previously stated they would pay money to avoid being shocked, 67% of men and 25% of women shocked themselves.
This shows that people would rather inflict physical pain upon themselves than be left alone with their inner thoughts. Since our society is so absorbed with productivity and “doing”, we don’t let ourselves sit in the moment without some type of distraction — even if that distraction is physical pain.
Procrastination-
When you have an intense project to complete, the thought of the tedious nature ahead can lead you to recoil. The thought of the boredom associated with completing a task can be so aggravating, that you’d literally rather do anything else. How many times have the drawers you’ve been meaning to organize for months, all of a sudden become more enticing once you had a more “boring” project to complete?
Our inability to concentrate when we need to focus can be the result of us never giving ourselves the opportunity. If you’re new to working out, the first sessions are going to be uncomfortable and challenging. This is because your body needs to get used to a new way of moving.
In the same way, our brains are not used to remaining present and focused on whatever our task is. We reach for our phones to distract ourselves from the uncomfortable feelings associated with deep and focused work. By letting yourself be bored more often, your brain will feel more comfortable with focused work.
Distractions-
When we’re bored and uninspired, instead of sitting in those feelings and deciding what it is we want to do, we might take the unhealthy distraction route. These include: smoking cigarettes, vaping, drinking alcohol regularly, consuming hard drugs regularly, and hanging out with people who aren’t good for you.
Many of these activities are super addicting and give our brains an instant hit of dopamine. Instead of getting to the root and figuring out what it is you want to be doing.
Many people can become addicted to these activities which leaves an even bigger void in a person’s life. When we can avoid leaning too heavily into distractions and let ourselves sit in boredom while we figure out our purpose and passions, we can save ourselves a lot of grief in the long run.
Creativity-
Slowing down and embracing boredom can spark your creativity. An experiment conducted asked one set of participants to perform the mundane task of sorting a bowl of beans by colour versus the other set of participants who were asked to perform an idea-generating task.
Those who sorted the beans by colour were able to come up with more unique and creative answers to the question “What’s a good excuse for being late that won’t make someone look bad” than their peers.
When we can let our brain chill for a second without constantly needing to entertain it, our creativity can flourish.
Relaxation vs Boredom-
Relaxing-inducing activities like yoga and meditation are meant to calm your mind and nervous system. This isn’t the same as letting yourself experience boredom. With meditation, you’re meant to release any thoughts that come up but with boredom, it’s encouraged to let your mind wander anywhere it wants to go.
While different, things like meditation and yoga are good for practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness allows you to become more aware and present of what you’re feeling and sensing in any given moment without judging it or immediately trying to change it. Boredom is letting yourself be okay when you don’t feel stimulated or inspired.
How To Be Bored-
We’re always looking to be distracted or stimulated. While music, podcasts, and phone calls are fun, the next time you head out for a walk in nature, ditch the headphones and listen to the sounds of nature. Next time you’re baking, cleaning, or organizing try to do it in silence.
We usually listen to something to distract us and pass the time when doing monotonous tasks. Yet, we wonder why life is passing us by. How can you learn to be okay with time moving slowly?
Air travel, for many, is a special kind of torture. If you’re not an adrenaline junkie who thrives on almost missing their flight every time they fly then the whole concept is incredibly boring. Waiting to drop your luggage, waiting through security, waiting to board, waiting for take-off, waiting to land, waiting to get off the plane, waiting for your luggage, waiting for an Uber. It’s the ultimate test of patience.
If you ever want to dive deep into boredom, air travel is the perfect way. Next time you have a flight, keep your headphones and phone in your bag while you explore the depths of boredom and see what comes up for you.
Minimize Screen Time-
A huge way to overcome getting more comfortable with boredom is to defeat the beast of screen time. We’re all guilty of having way too much daily screen time. What we can do is start to become intentional and aware of how we are using our screens.
Aim to become more mindful of your phone pickups. Every time you feel a wave of boredom and go to check an app think to yourself, “What is my purpose in checking this app?” Did you receive a notification, are you trying to pass the time, is it muscle memory? The more aware you are of this repetitive habit, the easier it’ll be to put it down and do something else.
More often than not, we’re bored at that moment and spend our time scrolling while our actual to-do list is screaming off to the side. If possible, aim to turn off your app notifications otherwise you will be extra tempted to see what’s buzzin’.
Social media is mind-numbing. The algorithms are curated to your likes and opinions leaving not much room for other perspectives. Many of our thoughts and opinions aren’t truly coming from ourselves anymore. It’s important to step away from time to time to recalibrate your values, beliefs, and points of view.
We’re trying to scroll our boredom away while simultaneously making it harder for us to be entertained. When we let our boredom sit for longer than a couple seconds before we reach for our phones we learn to open up our creative energy and new possibilities.
Conclusion-
We never let ourselves get to a place of boredom. We’re constantly quenching it with quick dopamine fixes. We don’t give ourselves and our creativity any time to flourish. We don’t get to discover what ways we want to spend our free time.
Our tasks often don’t get completed because we are so uncomfortable with boredom that we procrastinate by doing something else. This leaves us no free time to discover and explore our passions. By not becoming comfortable with boredom we end up robbing ourselves of so much.
If you’re looking to get more comfortable with boredom, then don’t run away from it. Put down the screens, and take a walk outside without any distractions. Many of us love to overfill our calendars and schedules. It might make you feel more accomplished and productive when you always have something to do or someone to hang out with.
Take a month or two and scale back. Say no to things, stay home, schedule nothing. Be curious as to what comes up for you. How do you feel? What makes being bored feel so uncomfortable? What was the result of sitting in the boredom without immediately needing to crawl out?
As much as our society is go-go-go, sitting in the nothingness that is boredom can feel super unnatural. When you take the leap and dive into the discomfort you can potentially spur more creativity and authentic purpose into your life.
