The Forgotten Art of Being Bored

Imagine you are all alone in a room, and you have two options: Use Your Smartphone or Read a Boring Ass Book.

What would you choose? You might say that you’ll choose to read the book because you’re on self-improvement, but deep down, you know that your subconscious self will choose to use the smartphone.

And the reason behind that is instant gratification. But imagine you didn’t have your smartphone. And you had two choices: Do nothing, aka be bored, or Read that boring ass book.

Automatically, you’ll choose to read that book. We often think boredom is the enemy, but in reality, in today’s world. Boredom is your biggest ally. If you use it correctly, you can easily outwork your competitors.

That’s why, by the end of this article, I will give you two exercises to use boredom to become more creative and productive.

We Live in a World That Doesn’t Want Us To Be Bored

The sad truth is the world doesn’t want us to be bored. Think about it. You have your smartphone for constant entertainment. You have Netflix. You have everything you need to be distracted, and everyone needs your attention.

The reason behind that is we live in an attention economy. Your attention is not free. It makes other people money. That’s why everyone wants it. But what it does to you is it makes you a zombie. You slowly become lazy and start losing your edge.

You get addicted to instant gratification because your brain is that of a monkey. He doesn’t know the difference between getting dopamine from exercise and getting dopamine from scrolling reels. He will choose the medium that is faster and easier for it.

Thus, your brain will prompt you to use your phone 24/7 and won’t allow you to get bored. But if you think about it. All the great ideas come when you are bored. Every great poet, writer, musician, and storyteller came up with their best idea because of Boredom.

Boredom is the secret pill that can make you more productive and creative and here are two exercises you can do to use boredom to your advantage.

Exercise 1: Lock Your Phone

If you really want to get some work done or want to study for an exam. Then, it is counterintuitive to keep your smartphone or any source of entertainment even close to you. Your brain would always choose to use the smartphone.

So, Lock your smartphone in a locker and give the keys to the locker to an adult or someone you know will not allow you to use your phone until you’re done. That way, you’ll be accountable.

Now, Once you do this, you’ll start seeing the side effects of boredom. Slowly you’ll feel bored. But this time, you’ll not procrastinate by scrolling through your phone. You’ll pick up the book and study or do the work you know needs to be done.

Now let’s talk about an exercise that will help you become more creative using the power of boredom.

Exercise 2: Use a Pocket Notebook

Replace your smartphone with a notebook. Dump your phone somewhere and take a pocket notebook and pen with you everywhere. For better results, keep the pocket notebook in the same pocket that you keep your smartphone in.

So, when you compulsively try to take out your phone when you get bored. You’ll find your pocket notebook instead. This might feel weird at first. But stay at it, and you’ll automatically start writing on that pocket notebook.

And once you start writing in your pocket notebook. There is no going back. You’ll start writing down all the ideas that come to your head, and somehow, in just a span of a week, you’ll become more creative and come up with your best ideas.

Conclusion

The biggest counterattack to both of these exercises is what happens if an emergency call or something important comes up. Well, in the first case, you’re only doing it until you finish your study or work session, and I doubt something essential would come up in such a short interval of time.

Secondly, you can start carrying a backpack everywhere and keep your smartphone in your backpack.

This will ensure that you have your smartphone with you and attend to all the important calls but don’t keep your smartphone in your pocket or in the place where you usually carry it. Make these minor changes and see the magic happen.