Surprising Health Benefits of Being Bored: Find Out How It Can Actually Make You Happier!

Take your mind back to the times you’ve been In fact, really bored. Mine are almost always memories from when I was a kid: precious playtime delayed by chatty adults (now, on reflection, probably involved in juicy gossip), the ‘Are we there yet?‘ of car rides with just a CD player and looking at the clock during lessons on the Pythagorean theorem.

In fact, now 30 years old, boredom was something he was sure he had gotten over. That was before a recent plane trip brought me back to that irritating and uncomfortable state of mind.

A dead phone and no way to revive it left me completely on my own, with the exciting options of browsing the budget airline’s selection of sandwiches in its in-flight magazine or pondering the details of the delectable hair care regimen of the lady in front of me (Olaplex or K18? I guess I’ll never know.)

In a moment of resignation, I turned to my right and looked out the window at the fluffy white clouds and blue sky for miles. It didn’t take long for me to drift off into a dream of the kind my busy schedule rarely allows. Then the unexpected happened, when my swirling thoughts magically coalesced into fully formed ideas.

I suddenly remembered that I had to send a friend flowers, came up with a clever way to fix the bathroom toilet seat with super glue, and conjured up a way to make an article idea I was writing more timely.

Looking for head room

I’ve noticed, since then, that whenever I lean into my boredom I tend to come up with my best ideas and quickest solutions.

This is a reality that the most recent science has been supporting more and more. one 2019 study found that boredom can boost productivity and creativity, while another paper published the same year indicated how well-being can be improved by giving our overloaded brains a chance to relax and de-stress.

Then there was the investigationin December, which showed how social media may be preventing us from accessing the boredom benefits of discovering meaningful activities and new passions.

“We’re starting to become more aware of the benefits of boredom and letting our brains be,” says Dr Sandi Mann, a registered psychologist, professor at the University of Central Lancashire, and author of books. the science of boredom and The Downtime Advantage.

She was asked to make boredom one of her main research focuses after investigating the emotions we tend to hide or feign, rather than expressing them naturally, during her PhD, and discovered that this is an untapped and misunderstood area of ​​the body. brain power.

Fast forward to 2023, and the wellness world has been slowly but surely entering its era of boredom. Its presence can be seen in the rise in recent years of digital detox and the trend of ‘dopamine fasting‘.

More recently, there has been a ‘slow living’ movement fueled by social media and increased conversations around burnout (see clinical psychology researcher katina bajaj on TikTok). Elsewhere, it can arguably be detected to some degree in the “quitting quietly” phenomenon at work and in the way we now consume entertainment, such as the return of weekly missed episodes of television on binge place.

Zone out

Less is now definitely more. But how did we get here? “Boredom is when our brain neurons search for an optimal level of stimulation and can’t find it,” explains Dr. Mann.

“We’ve been primed from childhood to see boredom as a negative emotion and something to get rid of.”

But its absence in our adult lives is also due to the digital age we live in now. “Where before we would have had to do something quite active to get rid of boredom, and have the free time and money to be able to do it.” – Now there is the ability to passively swipe and scroll,” she points out. He thinks of Jane Austen writing her literary classics in the face of our Wordle liking.

“It’s in our evolutionary interests to want to experience new things, but we can become addicted to the dopamine hit of novelty at our fingertips,” continues Dr. Mann.

As expected, investigation has shown that feelings of boredom at work make us reach for our smartphones, a bad habit I’m all too familiar with. I have found myself, during the mundane task of ordering invoices, tapping WhatsApp on autopilot.

Evidence is emerging that succumbing to such instant gratification to blot out boredom only makes us feel more bored, more quickly, in the long run. ‘The digital age has led us to wait high levels of stimulation’, explains Dr. Mann.

“But by not allowing ourselves to experience boredom, we are becoming less tolerant and unable to cope with a slower pace of life. It’s a catch-22.

This is not to say that people didn’t experience boredom before the advent of technology. But part of our newfound resistance to emotion seems to stem from the fact that where once the luxury of downtime was a status symbol, being busy is the new indicator of success.

In fact, if we are socially rewarded for productivity and self-improvement, allowing ourselves to get bored can seem like the ultimate failure. Shouldn’t it be bilingual? Training for a half marathon? Do you have plans for dinner on weekdays?

“The negative connotations surrounding boredom can hit women especially hard,” notes Dr. Mann. “Somehow, in our busy society, we’ve equated it with not feeling useful, valued, or important.”

And might we also feel ‘safer’ running in a state of frenzied doing? “When we’re bored, our brains can start to grapple with things, and we’re kind of afraid of what they might discover or where they go,” Dr. Mann adds. “Some people may fear that it will trigger negative thoughts, leading them into a cycle of worry or dark thoughts.”

Such is our aversion to being left alone with our own minds that a fascinating 2014 study showed that up to 25% of the female participants preferred to be electrocuted in a laboratory.

dream on

However, the drive to maximize every last facet of our lives not only contributes to widespread burnout (which a recent survey of the work messaging platform Slack discovered is on the rise globally), but it’s also holding us back from reaching our full potential.

As Dr. Mann reveals, boredom allows us to enter a dreamlike state. “This is our brain looking for neural stimulation internally, because it hasn’t found it externally, by digging into memories and making connections,” he explains.

This means that the wandering mind, without the distracting ping of notifications and flickering screens, is a sacred headspace conducive to creativity and problem solving.

“We think outside the box and make connections in our brains that we wouldn’t have if we had more conscious control,” notes Dr. Mann. She points out that we saw it in action a lot during the pandemic when a rise in boredom led people to take up baking or start a new business.

Also, there is a line of thought among experts exploring your own boredom and discovering because you feel so understimulated, it could be an important sign of what needs to change in your life. work routine? Stale relationship?

“Boredom shouldn’t be chronic,” shares Dr. Mann. ‘Every emotion has a purpose and this must be used to ultimately make positive changes in your life. It’s about finding a sweet spot, which is going to be different for everyone.’

Because while adrenaline junkies can have fun skydiving, maybe you just need the added challenge that a job promotion can offer.

silent progress

When harnessing the powers of boredom, it’s vital to be aware that it also has its downsides. Investigation has linked it to depression, anxiety, poor job performance, and loneliness. “But it’s not boredom itself that’s negative, it’s what we do when we’re bored. That is why too much can become unhealthy,’ warns Dr. Mann.

To illustrate his point, he brings up some of his previous research that found that when we’re in a bind, we tend to reach for sugary and fatty foods that give us a quick dopamine hit, rather than more nutritious items like nuts and carrots.

In addition to overeating, there is evidence that boredom can lead to riskier behaviors such as drug, alcohol, and gambling abuse.

The key is to stop viewing boredom as a negative, says Dr. Mann, and take a breather whenever your mind wanders. “So just diving into our heads and daydreaming will actually feel quite relaxing,” he explains.

Oh, and don’t confuse boredom with scheduled downtime. “If we have a low level of optimal stimulation, like we’re lying on the beach and not looking for it, then it’s not boredom. That’s relaxing,’ she adds.

On the contrary, boredom is the kind of mental space that is really easy to weave into our daily lives. “It can be as simple as watching the fields go by on a train ride or refraining from taking out your phone at the grocery store,” shares Dr. Mann.

How to assume this in your own life? The key is to keep your devices out of arm’s reach. “That’s why swimming is great, because you have to completely switch off,” she adds.

My favorite ways to clear space for the good stuff include hiking without a podcast and sitting at my desk without the guilt of a certain shame sidebar. What a brain wave!