Ep 32: Is Boredom a Good Thing?

How we feel about boredom is dependent on the situation. It can wind us up and leave us feeling irritable, frustrated, restless OR it can make us feel totally lethargic.

Most of us think of boredom as a negative feeling, but this isnt always the case. There is a good side to boredom and I think it's really important that we understand it.

A recent study showed that simple, boring tasks or mundane activities can allow our minds to wander, daydream, and create. The lack of stimulation that defines “being bored” gives our imagination room to play and grow.

Sherry Turkle said, “boredom is your imagination calling to you.”

Just last year when I was taken off of all social media when my accounts were hacked and I was offline for about 3 months in which time I spent more time meditating and leaning into being bored, that is when I was inspired to start a podcast, an idea I had never had before.

So yes, I am a huge proponent of boredom and the magic that can come out of it.

In many ways, boredom is a modern luxury. Danckert says, the word "boring" as it's used now didn't even enter common parlance until the industrial revolution gave us time to spare. "Early on in human history, when our ancestors had to spend most of their days securing food and shelter, boredom wasn't an option," he says.

James Clear: Author of Atomic Habits: said, “The greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. The outcome becomes expected. And as our habits become ordinary, we start derailing our progress to seek novelty. Perhaps this is why we get caught up in a never-ending cycle, jumping from one workout to the next, one diet to the next, one business idea to the next. As soon as we experience the slightest dip in motivation, we begin seeking a new strategy—even if the old one was still working. As Machiavelli noted, “Men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for a change as much as those who are doing badly.”

So this is what I am taking to now understand about boredom:

• It can be bad for you, it can lead you to making mistakes at work, it can have a decreased effect on your health, it can even cause you to gamble, drink, eat or whatever your vice is more just to avoid feeling it.
• But it can also be good for you. Boredom can lead to increased creativity, imagination and daydreaming. 
• Above all else we need to get better at being comfortable with being bored and teaching our kids to be more comfortable with being bored. 

Resources:

Atlas of the Heart Book Club: https://www.meghanthomas.com/atlas-of-the-heart

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown: https://amzn.to/3SiT14U

Atomic Habits by James Clear:  https://amzn.to/3Z3PQk4

To All the Magic in Me by Pavita Singh: https://amzn.to/3XNL8pj

On Purpose Podcast with Jay Shetty: https://open.spotify.com/show/5EqqB52m2bsr4k1Ii7sStc?si=3fb2ce156d204571

Hidden Brain Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/20Gf4IAauFrfj7RBkjcWxh?si=3fd12e34b4374f20