Why You Need Time for Boredom Every Week
Do you remember what it means to be truly bored? It’s not like being bored at work and trying to speed up time. But you experienced such boredom as a child in the waiting room of the dental office, where there were no toys, you had already read the only issue of Highlights magazine from cover to cover, and there was nothing to do.
Your mind wandered. Maybe you came up with a new game or came up with a story. While it probably wasn’t much fun at the time, think about how nice it would be to be able to give your brain that kind of space right now. Or even just to have some time to do what you really feel like doing, not what you should be doing. It’s the idea of scheduling some time for boredom each week. Here’s what you need to know.
Why schedule boredom time?
There have been many studies demonstrating that, contrary to popular belief, boredom can actually make you more productive and creative . Others have focused on daydreaming—often a by-product of boredom—and found that mind wandering can help you become more purposeful .
Boredom can also make us more self-aware, according to Andreas Elpidoru, professor of philosophy and researcher at the University of Louisville, who writes that “boredom is both a warning sign that we’re not doing what we want to do and a ‘push’.” This encourages us to change goals and projects.”
How to schedule time for boredom
Boredom time can take many forms, but according to Sandy Mann, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Central Lancashire and author of Downtime Benefits: Why Boredom is Good , it should include activities that require little or no concentration. no concentration. It could be things like walking a familiar route or sitting with your eyes closed, not listening to music or podcasts—just let your mind wander.
“A full boring day is the unstructured play time you would have given yourself when you were a kid,” Hana Jung , a former marketing director and current mindset coach, told the Well+Good podcast . “I don’t make plans with anyone. I wake up when I want. I feel what I want on this day, just like you [during] vacation.”
Although Jung sets aside whole days out of boredom, for many people this is unrealistic. But don’t let that put you off – just start small by scheduling an hour or even half an hour of boredom once a week. It won’t suddenly solve all your problems, but even knowing that there’s time in your calendar to take a step back from everything gives you something to look forward to.