Is Boredom Such A Problem?
Boredom may not be that boring
There is an old saying that goes something like this:
“Only boring people get bored.”
I have heard this recited on numerous occasions when someone has expressed feelings of boredom.
But is it true?
While it may seem obvious, this sentiment is not set in stone. There are many times I have been bored, yet I would not describe myself as boring. This also applies to people I know who have expressed similar sentiments to mine.
In this day and age, it is a sin to be bored. How can one be bored when there is so much to do, so much entertainment at our fingerprints?
We associate boredom with images of lazy people, wasters playing video games in their bedrooms because they have nothing better to do.
Yet, I don’t think this analogy is true. They are doing what they enjoy, there is no harm in this. If they are doing something they enjoy, it’s hard to say they are bored at all!
Modern life has turned the idea of boredom into something unpalatable. Yet, boredom is one of the most interesting states you can be in.
It is the last vestige of a free mind and one we shouldn’t decry simply because we deem it to be an undesirable state of mind.
Learning to understand and appreciate boredom is one of the crucial skills we all need to learn.
Let Me Entertain You
If there is one thing that sums up humankind in the 21st century, it is the prevalence of entertainment.
Whether it is Netflix, the latest obscure comic book character blockbuster film, or the latest app on our smartphones, we are drowning in an ever-increasing pool of entertainment.
To make matters worse, all of this is available at our fingertips via our smartphones, tablets and laptops. It is like a net that slowly closes in before trapping you and leaving you with no choice but to submit to your inevitable fate.
Flashback to 20 and 30 years ago, and this was not an issue. Mobile phones were in their infancy, while the idea of a smartphone or tablet was in the realm of science-fiction.
If you wanted to be entertained you would switch on the TV, or head out to the local cinema to watch a film. The options we have today simply did not exist back then.
Today, we have a vast network of entertainment at our fingertips. Whatever we want to watch or listen to, we can find it!
I remember being bored when I was a child, and I never had these options available to me. If I did, I know full well what I would have done.
Instead, I was forced to allow my imagination to run wild. I know the horror! How soul-destroying it must have been!
But it wasn’t!
I may be looking back on the past through rose-tinted glasses, but I enjoyed coming up with my own games, and looking out of my window and pondering how long the trees I could see had been there.
I credit these experiences and times with sharpening my creativity, something which has stood me in good stead the older I have become.
If I contrast this situation to today, it is too easy to pick up my phone and stare vacantly at it for a few minutes in the hope of relieving any boredom I may feel.
Yet, when I put the phone down, the same thoughts return. I have done nothing to solve the issue. I have placed it on the back burner, pushed it into the corner hoping it will subside.
The issue with entertainment is that it has made us overstimulated. We devour too much of it. The more entertained we are, the more entertainment we need to satisfy our desire for more entertainment.
It’s a vicious circle, and the more we become used to a fast-paced world where our desires are quickly met, the less tolerant we become when life starts moving at a slower pace.
According to recent studies, we now have an average attention span of eight seconds, which is shorter than a goldfish!
With an attention span like that, it’s no wonder we treat boredom with trepidation!
Is Boredom The Answer?
The German word for boredom is “langeweile.” It is a compound of two shorter words, “lange”, which means long and “while”, which translates to a while.
Interestingly, the English version only entered the language in 1852 when Lady Deadlock uttered she was “bored to death” with her marriage in Charles Dickens’s novel Bleak House.
For a feeling that is so ubiquitous today, it’s fascinating that we did not have a word to express this emotion until recently!
The German translation captures the essence of the problem of boredom for many people. Its something that lasts for a long while, and is tedious.
The issue is not boredom itself, the issue is that we have forgotten how to be comfortable when we only have ourselves for company. Being at peace with one’s self is a difficult task to accomplish, and it is why many of us rail against boredom.
However, there are a lot of benefits to embracing boredom, instead of pushing it away.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but boredom can lead to you becoming more creative, and learning to understand yourself better than before.
Boredom is a relationship between ourselves and time, leaning into it every once in a while is something we should all do, as it teaches us to be comfortable with living in the present.
Boredom has inspired the human race to push out beyond boundaries which used to consign us. If our ancestors were not bored, would they have discovered new lands, tried new foods, or developed language and the early beginnings of culture?
Who knows, but what we do know is that boredom is closely related to another human trait, curiosity.
If we were never bored, we would never seek new ways of doing new things, we would remain in a state of perpetual motion, where new goals and ideas are not tested.
Instead of looking to eliminate boredom from our lives, we should look to embrace it. This is how we innovate and come up with new ideas as a species.
It’s good to let our minds wander and stay true to ourselves, instead of seeking validation in external areas, we should look to find it internally, by tapping into our creativity and imagination.
Maybe the issue isn’t boredom after all. Maybe the issue is we are too used to being entertained.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +384,072 people.
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