How Boredom Can Change the World
Multi-tasking is not always all it’s cracked up to be
Photo by Aiony Haust on Unsplash
I used to be proud of my ability to have three novels on my nightstand, all of which I was immersed in during the same week. The fact that I could jump from story to story and from character to character made me feel as if I had an aptitude for retaining and organizing content in my brain. These days however, when I (ironically) can hardly read a few pages at night without falling asleep, I remember that multi-tasking and this constant access to information is not always beneficial. It actually can strip us from the gift of quiet and the benefit of boredom.
This concept of boredom became more interesting to me during the COVID pandemic, as I spent a lot of time as a single woman alone in my house. I heard so many of my peers talking about how bored they were and how much they missed running around. I was proud to say that I never felt bored — not even for a minute. There were always books around, shows streaming, phone calls to make, new recipes to try and the access to endless information on my cell phone.
I continued to get further away from this feeling of boredom, as I consciously busied myself with activities and challenges. But, was that really something that was admirable? The fact that I didn’t experience boredom actually only meant that I was filling all of my time with constant activity and not sitting with the ever-important idle mind.
This idea that I was always “staying connected” to some thought, I realized, is not always a good thing. I remember listening to a Ted talk years ago by author Manoush Zomorodi in which she explained the connection between “spacing out” and creativity. Ever since that time, I have been more keenly aware of the importance of sitting still — not in a meditative state, but just in a simple space where I’m not searching for distractions.
Even when I walk the dogs, I often have my AirPods in, listening to music or catching up on calls. But, recently, when I purposely left the AirPods at home, I then paid attention to the smells around me, the sounds of kids playing at the nearby school, the shade of blue in the sky.
By not busying myself with sounds or activities that took me away from the walk and from my mind’s ability to fully explore and create, I did feel a different sense of brain activity. I was creating new thoughts and tapping into my imagination. That’s a powerful reality as it is our imaginations that directly lead to creativity.
In Zomorodi’s Ted Talk she played a clip from researcher Dr. Sandi Mann who said: “Once you start daydreaming and allow your mind to really wonder, you start thinking a little bit beyond the conscious, a little bit into the subconscious, which allows sort of different connections to take place. It’s really awesome, actually.”
So many vast possibilities can occur when we move beyond the conscious and tap into the ability of our brains, if we dare to give our brains the opportunity to travel into that space. Rather than switch from thought to thought, from TV watching to word games, we can allow boredom to seep in and support our brain’s resources.
“When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn
It seems now more than ever, we have access to constant connection and endless activity. Even when I’m engaged in a show I really enjoy, I find that I check my phone on commercial breaks. The amount of times we all check our phones during a day is actually astounding. Just that one simple distraction alone exemplifies the fact that we don’t embrace boredom. We fill every minute and every commercial break with some other thought or activity.
So, let’s instead not only embrace opportunities of boredom, let’s create them. Leave the house without your phone. Wash the dishes without talking to anyone. Take a drive without listening to a podcast. Sit and watch the commercials while some new idea or recipe or trip itinerary forms in your mind.
Be okay with non activity — with nothing going on, even if it appears to lack interest. For it is in those simple, quiet moments where our minds create poetry, conjure up an investment plan, re-design a room, compose a song, build a new compost system, come up with a fundraising idea. It is in those simple moments where we can change the world.