The game-changing reason we should embrace boredom
Social media may have been awash with banana bread, DIY and newly formed exercise routines during lockdown but, when the last of the crumbs had been cleared away and the emulsion had dried, we mostly found ourselves staring at that freshly painted wall in pure boredom. And boy, did we moan about it as a survey by the Office for National Statistics found that just under two thirds of 16-69 year olds were most affected by boredom and the inability to make plans.
Yet boredom's bad rep started long before coronavirus gripped the planet. It's negative connotations were historically considered a symptom of being idle and conjured up age-old sayings such as ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’. That was certainly the case for a former employee of French perfume company Interparfums who sued the brand because they tasked him with nothing interesting to do. He claimed that his intense boredom led to sick days and compromised mental health which saw him win €40,000 as the court concurred that he had suffered from “bore-out”.
With an abundance of technology and the odd Netflix binge at our disposal, has our tolerance for stillness become non-existent? “Lockdown has definitely changed how we feel about boredom,” says Kay Woodburn, a neuorlinguistics coach, specialising in neuro-science and founder of Gritty People. “Some people have grown to love it and others to hate it. Boredom has given us the opportunity to reflect, opening the creative channels of the mind and explore things we would never have explored before and for others the lack of stimulation that comes with boredom has brought ‘bubbling under’ mental health challenges to bubble over.”
A constant stream of diary dates may have had us bemoan our overwhelming schedule pre-covid-19 but there's nothing like a global pandemic to make us stop and take stock. Dr Jane Montague, Head of Psychology at the University of Derby believes that our desire to be busy has become an unhealthy habit making boredom feel like an alien concept. “Our minds naturally want to experience calm, yet this emotional state of being constantly ''on' in the modern world keeps it stimulated constantly,” she explains. “This then becomes addictive as we actively seek more and more to fight the feeling of boredom, meaning our minds are so well-conditioned to be busy, boredom becomes a strange experience. Secondly, when our mind becomes still, it opens to the possibility of thinking about unresolved emotions and that can be uncomfortable to confront."
While we're not adverse to taking some down-time and, if the 35% rise in face mask sales are anything to go by, a little self-care, Dr Montague says there's a fine line between boredom and relaxation. “Boredom indicates an elevated state of arousal but with nowhere to expend the additional energy. It can be viewed in others through a lack of attention to the immediate environment or fidgeting,” she says. “An example might be waiting for something where lots is going on around you but you're not ‘tuned into’ that – you're more focused on the thing that is not happening – you are bored with waiting. This can all be emphasised by a feeling of not being in control of the situation. In a state of low arousal, on the other hand, there is less dissatisfaction with the fact that nothing much is happening and the individual can relax into that lack of activity. They might still be waiting for something to happen but they are not as focused on that particular aspect and can still focus attention on whatever is happening around them.”
A waning attention span aside, embracing the down troughs of busy periods can be as, if not more, beneficial than being productive. A recent study by the Academy of Management Discoveries revealed that those who undertook a boring task out-performed their peers on problem-solving, productivity and creativity on an idea-generating task. “Boredom usually appears in a number of stages,” Kay explains. “It starts with denial and moves into frustration, panic and acceptance – the latter is when the neuro pathway opens to the possibility of creativity. Always paying attention uses up our cognitive resources to stay productive, so what if you chose to look at boredom as a necessary rest for the mind? To give yourself permission to be bored, to not have to think about anything, or to respond to anyone, give your mind time to refresh and recharge. Boredom gives us the opportunity to be alone with our own thoughts, which can be really beneficial. Sit with those feelings, just for a few uncomfortable minutes to begin with, and see what comes up. You may find you come to enjoy what the feeling of boredom has to offer.”
To utilise boredom the right way, Dr Montague suggests using our untapped energy resources to seek and explore new experiences and get lost in more 'mindless' activities such as painting or walking. “Doing gives us a greater sense of wellbeing and a little hit of dopamine to motivate us to carry on,” she says. “They don’t necessarily need to have an end goal, though often our motivation will be to achieve something even though that might not have been the initial purpose.” By resisting the urge to scroll, it re-trains our brain, allowing it to wander and solve the problem of boredom. You never know, you may come up with an ingenious idea.
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