Boredom may seem like the worst feeling to have, especially when the cure is right at your fingertips, but embracing your boredom can be beneficial. Instead of filling your time by doomscrolling, allowing yourself to get lost in thought is a great alternative: stare at the wall, notice things in nature, look at the stars. Boredom doesn’t have to mean locking yourself in a white-padded room with no escape; although it may feel like that sometimes. If you think about it, boredom only lasts as long as you not wanting to do something else.
For me, I don’t think there’s ever been a second I haven’t had a thought. I’m not sure if my boredom is just me wanting to do something else or needing to get away from my thoughts for a bit, but I sure know how to be busy. I used to try to avoid boredom at any cost, but I’ve embraced it, and now I feel calmer and more in tune with myself and my surroundings. There is a healthy and an unhealthy amount of boredom, but I’m no expert.
Boredom…
Gives you time to yourself
Who spends more time with you than yourself? You allow others to get to know you and experience spending time with you, but you may not be giving yourself that chance to fully connect one-on-one (literally) with the most important person in your life. The best — and most intimate — relationship you innately inherit is with yourself. Take time and treat yourself how you would others (hopefully well). As Drake once said, “I guess it really is just me, myself, and all my millions.” It is just you, yourself, and… whatever money you have.
Be bored with yourself and don’t rely on anything or anyone else to find something to cure that. Boredom shouldn’t be cured, though; it should be embraced. Think about the positives of your day, try to remember what happened, or sit in silence. Just do anything that benefits you! One thing I’ve been wanting to try is going out somewhere by myself that I usually wouldn’t go out to alone. For example, go to a restaurant, the store, a movie, or literally anywhere else. Think about it!
makes you smarter
I might be stretching the truth, but hey, if you believe it, it might become true. That’s how it works. In a sense, boredom does make you smarter. Becoming more in tune with your emotions and practicing self-reflection are traits of emotional intelligence, and using your free time to think (even if it’s not important stuff) gives you the opportunity to have unique thoughts. For example, do you think grout is the same texture as a smoothie? What’s the point of wearing camo if cameras still know you’re a human? If you named a cat Moo because it looked like a cow and scream “MOO” at it like it’s a cow, is that rude? If I really loved someone and they started balding, would I be able to get past that? You could call that philosophical thinking… You got that more than I do.
New information = smarter
Doomscrolling = mindless
When I’m bored, I listen to podcasts about things I like. For a while, I listened to TED Talks and a girl I found on TikTok, but that was just a phase. I needed it, though. You know how I knew I needed it? I sat and let myself be bored enough to think of anything that was happening, bothering me, or that I needed to do. It was a rough time, but sorting out my thoughts and listening to podcasts made me more emotionally intelligent.
Example: “No, I deserve more than to be treated that way.” “Yes, I could’ve done better in that situation.” “Yes, it’s okay to be selfish.” “No, she doesn’t know anything about psychology other than neuroplasticity, but that’s okay.” “Now I know why he did what he did, and why I did what I did.” “I also know why venting doesn’t help you deal with anger.” See, smarter already.
allows you to be creative
Think about it, who creates modern art and thinks, “Yes, this is amazing and perfect.” Even better, who looks at modern art for long enough and goes, “Wow, this is incredible.” In all seriousness, being able to express yourself or something through the creation of art takes a lot of talent and even more thought. Pushing through the boredom to create a masterpiece is a skill in itself. Not all boredom is good, but not all boredom is bad. The same boredom that can create art can also convince the artist to give up.
Creativity isn’t just in making art, it’s in everything. Your thoughts can be creative. Mine definitely are… The most fun game I have for this is trying to have the most original thought. If you look it up and there are no results that specifically answer your question, you win. My most memorable example of this is when I thought about why we don’t use feeding tubes through the belly button like umbilical cords. You can look it up if you’re interested, but I guess I wasn’t the first to think that.
Do you ever wake up in the morning and go straight on your phone? I know I do, but that’s because if I don’t, I will fall back asleep. If possible, when you wake up, try to recall what you dreamed about that night. It’s really difficult if you didn’t have a memorable dream, but it really gets you thinking and may even wake you up! Your mind is very creative, especially in your dreams. Dare I say, that’s when you’re most creative.
Increases imagination
Boredom is key in the mental development of children. What would you be without your imaginary friends? Probably not as weird. All jokes aside, boredom — especially in childhood — is a crucial facilitator in the development of cognitive, social, and emotional skills gained through imagination. All of the ways that boredom is beneficial are connected, but so is your brain. That being said, problem-solving skills are maintained through learned imagination, which ultimately makes you smarter.
Do you ever think, “Wow, I wish I thought of that first?” Well, you can! My epiphany with this was when I was super bored in the car one day and let my mind wander, and eventually got to the subject of belly buttons. Stay with me. I thought, if our umbilical cords were once connected to our belly buttons, it has to be possible to have feeding tubes through the belly button because it was kind of designed for that. Come to find out, it is somewhat of a thing used for newborns.
I always have conversations planned out and my responses to certain situations that I may deal with. If you can imagine the conversation or conflict that will occur, it’s easier to find what you want to say in many different scenarios. The only downside of this is I’ve noticed none of the conversations I prepare for actually happen or go as planned, but you get the idea.
improves Metacognition
Metacognition is the ability to think about thinking. It’s the understanding of what you know and what you do, awareness and understanding are key. There’s tacit, aware, strategic, and reflective metacognition. Just aim for something better than aware… I’m not an expert in this, but it seems the best. Improving metacognitive skills can compensate for any cognitive limitations such as trouble with memory.
Metacognition is deliberate, so try to figure out how you can become the best thinker! Here’s an example of the types of metacognition so you can better understand it.
Problem: Remembering a phone number.
Tacit: “I have bad memory.”
Aware: “I might forget, but I guess I can write it down.”
Strategic: “I don’t have anything to write it down on, but I know I remember numbers better in threes, so say it and I’ll say it aloud in threes until I get back to my house. If something interrupts me, I should be able to remember it again because when I say things out loud I remember better.”
Reflective: “Saying it in threes didn’t really help, but saying it aloud did. Next time I can try making it into a tune because that helps me too.”
I promise this isn’t a lecture or me trying to teach you about psychology, but you should figure out which one suits you best! Once you figure out which type of metacognition you perform, it’s easy to upgrade. Reflection of yourself and your thoughts like this in general is important because it keeps you in check with reality.
boredom in a nutshell
Boredom is a great strategy to benefit thinking, life, and yourself as a whole. Instead of finding mindless activities to dull the boredom, take advantage of your ability and privilege to feel bored and choose what’s best for you! It’s so easy to forget what’s going on in your life when you never give yourself time to process experiences that aren’t mindless activities. Boredom is beneficial if you let it be, so let it be!
You are already using your free time to do something that benefits you: reading this whole article and learning more about yourself and your feelings. See how easy it can be! Be more conscious of what you spend your time doing, and you will be aware and remember things more. Let boredom be beneficial, because it truly is what you make it to be.