Boredom is our Superpower

It's hard to admit.

A quick raise of hands, who ever spends time flipping through the home screen on your phone like something new will show up (*raises hand in shame*). Why? I've spent 5 hours and 11 minutes on my phone today. It's a mix of YouTube, Messages, Safari, Amazon, and Instagram. How much of that time added value to my life? If I were to take a hard guess, it would be near an hour to an hour and a half. Remember, this is just my phone. I'm a filmmaker and spend countless hours editing, writing, and just doing work in front of a screen. But this article isn't about screen time. No sir. This is about a modern day deficiency: Boredom.

Boredom

When's the last time you've been bored? Truly bored? I bet the last time you got anything close to that, you picked up your phone to fill that void. We pick up our phones going to the washroom, because what else are we going to do, stare at a wall? We go on our phones while waiting for friends, talking with our friends, waiting in line, waiting for your computer to turn on, while watching TV. The sad thing about it is, what the heck are you doing on your phone? Nothing. You're idling because you felt uncomfortable for a few seconds. I am a victim, and that is the only reason I'm qualified to write about this.

One of the exercises I picked up in my search to become more creative is to literally stare at the wall and just let your mind wander. Eww, sounds boring... Yes. Exactly. Boredom is an untapped superpower that we can all use.

The Human Brain

This article here talks about how boredom is not only great for increasing creativity, but also brain health in general. It's like fuel for your brain. My favorite quote:

Doing nothing has been compared to the pauses integral to a beautiful piece of music. Without the absences of sound, the music would be just noise.

In our "Modern" lives, our senses are so heavily bombarded left and right. Just to prove it to you; It's said that we see approximately 6,000 - 10,000 ads daily. (see more) Holy Moly, that makes my eyes water a little. That is up from 500-1600 ads daily back in the 70s. Sensory overload.

Think about this for a second. You're watching cable TV (I know, who has that anymore) and the show takes an ad break. Are you going to watch the ads? Gosh no, you live in the 21st century. So you hop on social media and scroll through more ads. It's not all your fault, but your brain isn't meant for this. It's not used to this bombardment. This is why meditation is so important these day. I have troubles sitting still, but truly I wonder why... I wonder why.

Without Boredom, Life is Just Noise

On a rollercoaster, without ups, there will be no downs. Without light, there are no shadows. A coin has two sides. There are four seasons. Okay, that's enough analogies. I hope I'm making a point here.

I discovered this great (I'm not sure if you can call it advice) way of thinking while reading Walter Isaacson's Biography on Steve Jobs.

“He believed that great harvests came from arid sources, pleasure from restraint,” she noted. “He knew the equations that most people didn’t know: Things led to their opposites.” ― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

What I got out of this is you enjoy something much better if you have contrast. Just think about it. I go in and out of phases of being extremely busy and then just sort of busy. I'm someone who really loves playing video games, but doesn't always have the chance anymore. I see that as a good thing, because when I do, I enjoy the time ten fold. Restrain yourself from anything, and all you do is build a larger payoff.

You can't have one thing without the other. In modern times, we kind of expect to get what we want, and be comfortable all the time. But it's true, you can't ever be happy if you haven't experienced sadness. Our restraint is so low, that we never get to enjoy either side of the spectrum, and just land right in the middle. You know what the middle is, Grey, a mix between white and black, arguably the most boring color. I call this zone...

The Idle Zone

Are you trapped in the idle zone? A place where everything feels grey? Go be bored. That's my advice. Go stare at a wall, or people watch in a park. Go do anything that takes you nothing. Go let your mind wander with no focus or tasks. It's different from meditation where you think of nothing. This is more, thinking of everything. Disclaimer: this is not a substitute for meditation, just something to add on.

We get stuck doing work for work's sake. This is just another form of idling. Pay attention to the work you're completing and ask yourself if it's really necessary and if not move on to something that will bring you value or take some time to explore your mind.

The worst thing about the idle zone is it's so easy to keep going. Once you get in, it's hard to get out. Happens to me all the time. I start watching some videos on YouTube that I don't really need to watch and promise myself that I'll go to bed right afterwards, but don't. It's just too easy to go watch another video after, because once you're there, it's more work to leave than to keep going.

Conclusion

I have a video called, "What Morse Code Taught Me," in which I learnt Morse Code. What did it teach me? It taught me the value of filling your idle time with something other than scrolling through your phone. Learning a new skill takes time, but I assure you, you already have it. I'm not asking you to give up your phone for a day or anything like that, I'm just hoping next time you pick it up, you're conscious about it. And in that consciousness, think of your three options, scrolling through your phone aimlessly (idle), put your phone down (bored), find something better to do (interested). Which option will you pick?