Dr Sandi Mann, a professor of psychology at the University of Central Lancashire has seen the brighter side of boredom earlier than others. In an interview, Mann explains about the veil of smartphones and internet that conceal the benefits of boredom from us: “We’re trying to swipe and scroll the boredom away, but in doing that, we’re actually making ourselves more prone to boredom, because every time we get our phone out we’re not allowing our mind to wander and to solve our own boredom problems.”
It doesn’t mean that people who spend less time on smartphones don’t get bored easily. The world is filled with distractions, enough to separate you from yourself. In her book, The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom Is Good, Mann writes, “When we are busy, occupied and fulfilled, we rarely stop to ponder on our abilities, attitudes, and qualities; it is only when we have the luxury of being bored that we have time for such introspection. Of course, this is assuming such self-reflection is a good thing and leads us to become better people, with better ideas, qualities, and attitudes.” Electronic distractions and responsibilities keep our minds occupied. This is why boredom is important, as it gives your mind time to relax, unwind, and get back to work at its full potential.
History has it that countless people have used boredom to their advantage, to achieve their goals and fulfil their responsibilities. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two of the most successful people of the modern age often make time to just sit and let their minds wander. Jerome Singer, who has studied Positive-Constructive Daydreaming for years, says mind-wandering helps you access memories and come up with ideas using your unconscious mind. Amy Fries, the author of Daydreams at Work: Wake up your creative powers, drew a similar conclusion from her research. She says when you sit idle, you use knowledge, experience, and memories in a single moment that could lead you to your eureka moment.
The most effective way to deal with boredom is by embracing it—not by eating potato chips the whole day or playing online games to kill time, or worse, by resorting to drugs or alcohol. In such a case, you must seek help, as your boredom has taken an ugly turn. For the most part, however, the feeling of boredom remains what it is, just a boring experience. But it is this lifeless experience that has the potential to bring you your moment of glory. The vault of boredom is deep like an ocean. Tap into this vault, and you will realise, the feeling of boredom is, actually, quite fascinating.
Abhishek Abhishek
July 29, 2019 at 8:39 pmHey a great read on boredom now I know what to do in my free time.
Well I am a writer too and I write blogs at
https://alonewriterinthecorner.blogspot.com/?m=1
Do visit it once
Soulveda
July 30, 2019 at 12:06 pmThank you, Abhishek. Sure!