Thabith
The Power of Boredom
Introduction
What does boredom mean? It is a state where our mind switches to default mode. It can be defined as where our state of mind is put in a restless mode, weary, and uninterested simply a feeling of dullness.
In present does this happen?
Rarely, it can also be said occasionally. The reason is obvious overconsumption of social media or phone. Boredom occurs when the phone is left for charge or you are far away from the phone. It also happens when you are given a repetitive task; you begin feeling a kind of uninterested in the work you are doing. This also can be called boredom.
In research done by Harvard University, certain people were called to sit in a room where they had nothing to do for 15 minutes, placed with a button in front of them if they wished to electric shock themselves. Unfortunately, many of them shocked themselves rather than sitting on a chair, waiting bored for 15 minutes. So, it is scientifically proved that people find it very difficult to be bored.
Reason for not being able to be bored
Everyone knows that it’s due to the phone. We have our mind shrunk in focus as we always watch shorts, and consumption of social media has caused our attention span to reduce and also made our mind overstimulated with dopamine. But boredom has no stimulation of dopamine, so your mind will be craving dopamine throughout the period. Once you adapt your brain to get less stimulated by dopamine, it becomes easier to reduce phone addiction.
At present, it’s not just difficult it is almost impossible because from young ones to elder ones, everyone uses their phone approximately 6 hours a day. Even babies have to be fed by making them focus on a video that could shift their focus so they could be fed easily. From the starting point, we have been fed with dopamine. This could be dangerous in the future as a child will not be able to focus, and the reduction of attention span could occur in several children in the world.
What are the outcomes of boredom
This increases productivity and provides creative thinking. When our mind is in default mode, it asks questions to ourselves that make us uncomfortable. This is the reason many of us find it difficult to be bored we aren’t willing to be questioned.
Also, our mind wanders throughout a fantasy that has no borders; this results in new ideas. As an example, we could take the time during our school when we used to think random things, which we cannot do now. This is a result of us being out of boredom and unable to think; we aren’t exploring boredom. New content creators emerged during the COVID lockdown due to thinking new ideas that were generated by boredom.
Can we become bored every time
Being bored every time leads to depression and anxiety. This is due to overthinking, which happens because of thinking too much and being idle for a long time. This also causes health and mental issues due to being immobile for a long period. So anything more than a level causes issues at any point. It shouldn’t exceed a certain level. To a level, it would be productive; after a certain level, it causes a negative effect.
Phone and boredom relationship
Even during crossing and eating, even before sleeping, we are used to having phones in our hands, mindlessly scrolling even though we haven’t planned why we are using them. We use it for around 2 hours without motive. This particular formula destroys being bored. This is the reason this has become an important factor.
Albert Einstein in ancient times discovered gravity while being bored while lying under a tree watching apples fall, he questioned himself, “Why did this apple fall?” This question arose while he was bored, where he was on the default mode network. As I mentioned earlier, boredom gives you some unsolved questions to answer. This is good for brain stimulation as well and also gives us some questions that could result in making us uncomfortable.
Could you challenge yourself?
I am on a target to reduce my phone time to 3 hours average per day and embrace boredom making my mind stimulate some unsolved questions. You, for those who read this, could also take an oath to reduce your phone time based on your consumption. There cannot be a standard time because some require phones to conduct their work. So based on your requirement, you can aim for a target based on your particular consumption level and make more time for being bored.
Being bored is okay, and finding answers to the questions will be more important, as this will give your brain more work, which could result in exercise for your prefrontal cortex. This also reduces brain rot that is caused due to mindless scrolling.
Introverts’ relation to boredom
Introverts basically do not socialize much. They would refrain from talking with others most of the time, except with those they find a good pair to talk with, and they both speak about the topics that they like. Their mind often wanders due to solitude; they come up with different questions. They are always different from others because they embrace boredom. They can wait still without doing many things or none at all. They are often seen as bright students on most occasions.
Generally approved theory of boredom
While we were at school, everyone was obviously bored, looking at the time once in a while, waiting for the bell to ring. But what went unnoticed were the ideas and productivity that flowed out from our minds. Have any of us pointed out that this was a result of boredom?
Take a while be out of your distractions basically, be bored. Let the ideas flow out. Make an impact that generates ideas. So make boredom normalized in your life. Challenge yourself by doing the things that make you bored, because the sweet makes your health weak, while bitter tastes awful but is medicine for your health.
Thank you for reading.
