Humans have an innate aversion to being bored, but boredom isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Without boredom you might not have picked up this paper, and I might not have written this article. Although boredom has been avoided before we even had a word for it, integrating boredom into your life could be just as important as brushing your teeth or getting your flu shot. As we navigate this overstimulated world where any ounce of boredom can be quickly relieved at the tap of a finger, boredom is becoming extinct. Boredom, as researchers are finding out, could be the hidden key to unlocking creativity and boosting motivation and may soon be a routine part of your day.
Arguably, our aversion to boredom certainly stems from good reasoning. Boredom has its cons besides unwanted discomfort. In old christian teachings boredom was preached to be a sin, it meant you thought that serving God was mundane and therefore an offense to the religion. Although one does not need to follow christian practice to run the other way from a boring task, humans quite literally would rather do almost anything other than be bored. In a Harvard study, researchers found that when participants were placed in a room with nothing to do but push a button that would shock them, they chose to voluntarily shock themselves rather than sit unentertained for 15 minutes straight. This openness to risky behavior is probably why it is commonly urged that teenagers should be kept busy. Consequently, we are finding out this common saying is not as proactive as we initially thought. In a study performed at the University of Southern California, teenagers who had little engagement with boredom reported to have less creativity and imagination about their futures and social problems. Although we had hoped that more access to information would lead to a smarter generation, we accidentally got the opposite effect and ended up with a generation that might be losing an important aspect of their critical thinking skills.
So what does this mean for the future? And how is boredom good for us? Boredom could be the key tool for improving cognition. Boredom allows the brain to take a break from constant stimulation, it allows for mind wandering which is the main factor in boosting creativity and allowing imagination to take place rather than simply overloading it with more information and tasks without the chance to reflect on it.
A study which looked at how boredom affects creativity found that participants who engaged in a boring task before a creative task had a burst of inspiration and creativity in the next task. We know that boredom can stimulate creativity, and perhaps this uncomfortable task we constantly avoid could be an important tool for pedagogy. This could mean restructuring our curricula or educating and encouraging people on how to practice little forms of boredom throughout the day. Other alternative methods like meditation incorporates this mind wandering aspect of boredom. In a study observing monks who meditated on a daily basis, we see extreme physiological differences in their brain scans compared to the average person. Some of these effects included increased attention, ability to form new neural connections and better emotional regulation to name a few. Not only is boredom essential in rewiring our brains and giving us a much needed break from our overstimulated world, it also boosts creativity as well.
However, not everyone chooses an electric shock as opposed to being bored. In 2010 in response to the Interesting Conference—a conference held for experts to talk about new exciting topics they are passionate about—being cancelled, the Boring Conference was started, and people actually went. Since then, it’s been held annually in London and is dedicated for experts of all levels to discuss what most people might think are mundane and boring topics. So we can say not everyone runs at the thought of boredom and maybe you shouldn’t either. After finding out the benefits of boredom, I too was converted to the idea of having my own boredom conference. I did a two week boredom experiment, no music, no podcasts, no books, no stimulation (except the weekends), this preliminary research mainly resulted in a lot of thinking of the if, ands, and buts of life, but more importantly it gave me back time in the day to dive back into old hobbies of mine. To me the experiment was a success, because it made me realize that by taking away people’s ability to be bored we take away people’s ability to think deeply, play into their imaginations and critically question the world.
Boredom doesn’t necessarily need to have a negative connotation to it, instead it should be looked at as a precursor to change, a motivator, or a prompt. I urge us all to change the narrative on boredom because if we think about it, boredom is actually more unpredictable than we realize… no one can really expect what a really boring day can motivate you to do. We often think of boredom as something to avoid but it’s really a catalyst for change and a necessary part of life. Can you remember the last time you were bored for more than five minutes? Challenge yourself this week to your own boredom conference, get off your phone, go on a walk with no music and let your mind wander…
