Biggleswade Library, early morning on a sunny day in 2024.
“What do you do?”
My mind went blank for a second.
What do I do?
She blinked.
This is what we are all obsessed with: what to do. We always have to be doing something. A society of doing this and doing that, workplaces where people need to be “seen to be doing something”. Parents angry at their kids for “doing nothing” with their lives. People berating themselves for “not doing enough”.
Doing.
Well, there’s a case to be made for not doing things. For not doing anything. For being bored.
This is my case for boredom.
Why You Would Choose Boredom
Naval once said that, since the invention of the iPhone, people would never be bored again: we have constant information available at our fingertips. Everything and anything you could possible want to access, you now can. Boredom has been cured.
But those rare moments in the 21st century where we do nothing are the moments that can often benefit us most.
Why else is there this mindfulness craze?
Mindfulness is literally the art of doing nothing.
Sure you can argue that you’re paying attention to your breath, but real mindfulness is nothing but awareness. Of being aware. Of letting things happen and noticing your noticing. If something as mediocre as the breath can be a profound release, then being bored, or any other state of which we are aware, has the same capacity.
Why am I saying all of this?
Because boredom can be a productivity hack. It is often the birthplace of new things. Robert Pirsig, of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance fame credited the last 6 beautiful chapters of his books to boredom.
It’s within boredom, Pirsig says, that the new things you need arise. It’s also the place where your mind is able to process all the shit that’s still stuck inside it.
After all, currently the only “down time” we have isn’t when we sit on the sofa and mindlessly doom scroll or watch another pointless TV show, but when we sleep. Our brain is able to switch off completely and process the things it needs to.
Boredom, in another sense, is the ability to have peace with yourself. If you are restless when there’s “nothing to do” then you have no inner peace. And we know that the western society is kinda screwed when it comes to this stuff: people would rather receive a mild electric shock rather than sit alone in a room for 15 minutes.
So I encourage you to cultivate a little safe haven for your boredom: perhaps you could plant it in-between meetings, in-between your evening meal and the dog walk, or maybe just before bed. Plant it and water it each day.
Boredom is already paying you dividends: just think of the last time you were stuck on a problem and then had a long shower where the answer “magically” popped into your head. Or when you just went for a boring stroll and came upon the answer you were seeking.
Let’s provide another analogy: a computer where all the applications haven’t been closed down for a while is going to be sluggish and overburdened. Sometimes we need to close down all the tabs and all the apps, and simply leave it alone for a bit.
So when might be a good time for you to plant a little boredom in your life?
I hope this has been of value, you can let me know in the comments. And remember AFQ: Always Follow Quality.
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Pareto Path 
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