I recently came across an interesting article (https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/why-being-bored-should-be-your-new-year-s-resolution-1.4226293) arguing that boredom is good, and that having the space to be bored (in this article, time unplugged and without a lot of stimulating activity) can foster creativity. As plugging in, using electronic devices, reading blogs, listening to podcasts, surfing the Internet, and so forth, often are ways to escape boredom, it can be helpful to remove these escapes, leave the phone or device at home (or lock it up), and just exist and see what happens. I’m definitely in favour of this plan, and I think unplugging and avoiding all of the self-stimulation we engage in when we’re bored can be incredibly valuable for both psychological and physical health. Embrace boredom. Experience it, allow yourself the space to be bored, and see what comes of it.
It’s interesting to observe what actually happens, though, when people have the space to be bored. When my kids are bored but unable to access their devices, the first thing they do is mess with each other. Screaming, yelling, arguing, and injury sometimes ensue. Their next line of defense is to mess with our dog, but that’s dangerous, so they don’t normally get too far down that path. Eventually, they come around and start doing creative things, such as making weapons out of paper (well, it’s better than some of the things they could be doing), actually asking me if I’d like to play a game (I’m normally the one who asks them!), or even going outside (although this is a much rarer outcome of boredom). As a parent, it can be hard to tolerate and ride out the boredom of our children. Hearing, “I’m bored!” “I don’t know what to do!” “Why can’t I use my phone!” “This is X$%!” and so forth is distressing and can break our resolve.
I also think proneness to boredom has attained some kind of social status. Lots of people talk about how their gifted children are bored with the school curriculum or describe how they were bored and understimulated as a child. Many people seem to consider boredom as a symptom of high intelligence. If you’re really smart, you’re likely to find a lot of things (and a lot of people) boring; thus, boredom is a sort of badge of honour. It’s cool to be bored, as this means you’re too smart for school. What’s interesting about this is that the research on the association of boredom with intelligence has revealed mixed findings for many years (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986). As far as I can tell from looking at the more recent articles on the topic, there’s really no consistent link between intelligence and boredom. Being bored easily is not a reliable marker of high intelligence, and being smart doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be bored. In fact, some recent research has suggested that boredom has an inverse relationship with post-secondary educational performance (Tze, Daniels, & Klassen, 2015). In fact, the relationship between boredom and academic achievement seems to be a two-way street. In one study of college students, boredom predicted lower academic performance, and lower academic performance predicted more boredom (Parker et al., 2014). So, the students who are bored end up doing worse, and if they end up doing worse, they’re more likely to be more bored. Does this mean we have to turn school into some kind of highly-stimulating, exciting, suspenseful experience, or our bored but brilliant students are going to tank? I don’t think so. When someone says, “I’m bored” this doesn’t necessarily mean she or he is some kind of delicate genius (this is for you Seinfeld fans) who needs other people to up their game and make life more interesting. Maybe it’s more valuable to help our kids (and other family members, friends, colleagues, etc.) see boredom as an opportunity – an opportunity to tolerate and realize we can survive boredom, to do nothing for a while and see what it’s lik, to learn something new, develop a new hobby, learn to live with our minds, or do something creative. If something at school is boring, maybe that means we should work harder, find ways to challenge ourselves or go beyond what is being asked of us. In other words, I don’t think boredom needs to be remedied or relieved. Instead, I think it’s more valuable to learn how to be OK with boredom and to make the most of it. ~ Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych