Embrace a little boredom

This has really caught my attention over the past few years. It may be because I can’t look at my phone or read while traveling by bus or train due to motion sickness, or if it’s something else, but it’s almost comical looking at a bus stop in Sweden today. Twenty-three grown-ups are waiting, and everybody is staring down at a small screen, not talking to each other, not aware of what’s happening around them. Twenty-three little isolated islands are being "socially connected" without any social connection.

These constant stimuli and dopamine injections have sent us down a very slippery slope, and I’m not sure we’ll get to the bottom without falling.

How we got here

I remember watching videos from Asia 10-15 years ago of people riding the subway, where everybody was looking at their phones. We laughed and said, "What a weird way to spend your day. It’s unsociable and lonely despite being among hundreds of others in a small space. How could anybody want to travel like that for hours in a commute back and forth every day?"

Now, 15 years later, we’re there—probably even worse.

The value of boredom

I’ve recently read several books and listened to talks about the value of embracing boredom and resisting the urge for that quick fix of information or dopamine hit whenever we have to wait — in line, for the bus, for our food to be prepared.

But is there value in actually being bored from time to time, or is it just a matter of maximizing your time every day and trying to squeeze in as much information or entertainment as possible?

I’m uneasy about how we use our phones, especially the countless hours people spend on social media, browsing 5-10 second clips one after the other—constant stimulus for our brains.

I have two kids, and I try to keep them away from that kind of exposure as much as I can. But I’m actually worried that in a few years a significant portion of the country’s population will struggle to focus for more than 15 seconds. That is quite worrisome for me.

Ignoring the research

Despite the overwhelming evidence from schools, classroom situations, research, and literature that we are heading in the wrong direction, we do little to address the issue.

My wife is a teacher, and she sees a dramatic difference today compared with 15 years ago.

This fixation on constant updates and stimuli in our nervous system makes us more anxious, unhappy, and unable to concentrate. It makes it harder for us to focus and introduces a strange fear of boredom that lasts more than a few seconds. How did we end up here, and why aren’t we doing anything about it?

Let’s get back to giving the brain a little cognitive pause every now and then. I’ve also heard it suggested that it is in these pauses that we tend to process and sort information. So, let’s embrace a little boredom now and again. Just like you need to pause between runs when doing interval training — you need that part to make the runs better and to improve the result of the session.

A major problem

While we’re on the subject of running: this constant stimulus, combined with a severe lack of physical activity, results in a major problem. Strangely, we don’t prioritize this more, and I’m afraid we will see severe consequences in a few years.

When I see mothers and fathers sticking screens in front of their one-year-olds instead of talking to them or interacting with them — so they can be on their own phones while walking in the park — I’m appalled, and I lose a little bit of faith in humanity.

We are supposed to be educated and enlightened and should be able to do better! So, the next time you’re waiting on the bus, try keeping your hands in your pockets for two minutes and embrace the boredom.

---

Resources

• What Boredom Teaches You by Robert Greene
• You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why. by Harvard Business Review and Dr. Arthur Brooks
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
• Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
• Huberman Lab podcast by Andrew Huberman
• Embracing “Cognitive Solitude” Is The Key To Thriving In The Age of AI by Ion Valis

---