There is a pervasive desire in our modern culture to be industrious.
That is to say, the worth of a human being is based on their ability to maintain high productivity and to work diligently. It is rewarded. And it is exploited. While the hard-working individual is praised, the lazy are often shunned. Quite an interesting predicament that someone may find themselves in. But let us be honest for a minute. If you are seeking to be productive and to maintain a level of high performance, it is okay to simply not do anything productive at all.
While it may sound odd, the idea of doing nothing to achieve more is supported by quite a bit of evidence. For instance, take this research study from 2018. Through experimentation in the first study of three that were conducted, the researchers observed that individuals who had completed a repetitive, boring task (sorting a bowl of beans by color, one by one) later performed better on an idea-generating task than their peers who had first completed an engaging and interesting craft activity. Or you can also look to a study by Psychologists Karen Gasper and Brianna Middlewood that experimentally tested how boredom can influence creativity. The fact remains that there is considerable and empirical evidence that supports boredom as a tool to achieve high productivity. As a basic human emotion, boredom is quite powerful if used appropriately.
Now, as much as I enjoy learning about new studies or methods in this field, I feel I should voice my own opinions on this topic. I cannot help but think that boredom will be displayed ad nauseum over the internet and in literature as a hack to increasing productivity very soon. Soon enough self-help gurus and self-appointed life coaches will preach about the power of boredom. And once they have beat that dead horse, they will transition back to some method from the 1960’s or adopt a new method or productivity tool. Rinse and repeat.
If there is anything that I want you to take away from this post it’s that it is simply okay to be bored. It is okay to do nothing sometimes. Can you really remember the last time that you did absolutely nothing? I do not mean laying on your couch, scrolling through social media. I can only imagine the opposite effect that would occur from constant stimuli presented by algorithms vying for your attention and retention to sell you products. Refer to this video for more info about what I mean.
I am talking about doing nothing productive. Simply living in the present with abandonment for any to-do task. It is in those moments, when we do absolutely nothing and succumb to the effects to boredom that we are truly able to explore our creativity and cognitive faculties to their full potential. Give it a shot. Be more productive by simply doing nothing for a bit and being bored.
~ Sandeep