Our lives are hectic, complicated, overwhelming at times, and filled with anxiety. We program ourselves to be overbooked and when we have a spare minute, we immediately look for something else to fill that space. The first reaction is to grab our cell phones and start to scroll emails, the news, or social media. “What’s going on in the world, who needs me, what new problem is around the bend, is there a disaster somewhere that I’m missing?” This is not a new thing, but maybe it is. The trickle down starts shortly after a child can walk and run. How often do our young kids proclaim, “I’m bored!” As if our primary responsibility is to feed them activities, to stimulate them, to fill in the gaps. Of course, television and the internet are culprits that we can easily blame, and rightfully so. But people cannot simply isolate themselves from the world around them, at least we feel that this is so.

Just a generation ago, young children were given the freedom, given permission to entertain themselves, and to dream. We have allowed them to claim little responsibility for that and as a result what has quickly trickled down to our kids and grandkids, has now trickled back up to us. Our lives demand that we be connected and as a member of this connected eco-system, we are held accountable to engage and respond. Communication has become an addiction as all-consuming as any other drug, maybe even more so. How hard is it for each of us to set that cell phone down and be disconnected for even a short, few moments? Teachers complain about students constantly death scrolling on their cell phones or texting friends who might be sitting four desks away while the teacher keeps one hand on a piece of chalk and the other on their phones’ mute button. The same is true of professionals sitting in meetings texting on phones held under conference tables, and line cooks scrolling between orders or posting comments on X. We won’t allow ourselves time to concentrate on what’s in front of us or have an idle moment for fear of boredom. We don’t even look up while crossing a busy street! Our heads are pointed toward the screen waiting for the next “BREAKING NEWS.”

As a result, we suffer from sleep deprivation, our anxiety levels are through the roof, our ability to concentrate has diminished to a few seconds, and production is lower than just a decade ago. What we don’t seem to realize is how important boredom really is. There are numerous studies that demonstrate how those moments when our mind is at rest are petri dishes for new ideas, problem solving, and clearing the angst of a world moving at breakneck speed. I read an article a few years back that said the Sunday New York Times contains more information than was available in the lifetime of an American living in the early 1800’s. The internet has multiplied access to information at a mind-numbing rate.

Neurologically, there are important connections between boredom and how we benefit from some less frequently used portions of our brain.

Arthur Brooks of Harvard University stated:

“You need to be bored. You will have less meaning, and you will be more depressed if you never are bored. I mean, it couldn’t be clearer. Let me give you the good side of boredom in general. Boredom is a tendency for us to not be occupied otherwise cognitively, which switches over our thinking system to use a part of our brain that’s called the default mode network.” Watch his short video for more: https://hbr.org/2025/08/you-need-to-be-bored-heres-why

We can and probably should work at creating some discipline around the dependance on our devices – disconnecting ourselves from social media and continuous emails and texts, but maybe the best way to start is to schedule boredom time into our daily routine. Find those methods and opportunities that will allow you to turn off and tune out, to give your brain a rest from demands and simply let it wander. Take a walk in the woods, ride your bike, drift in a boat on the lake with a fishing pole by your side, read a book, sit back and really listen to music (not simply turn it on as background), paint, draw, write, or take an hour to lie on a hammock in your backyard. It’s okay – YOU HAVE PERMISSION.

Try it for a month, schedule an hour of boredom time every day. Put your phones out of reach, turn off the television, block out your calendar, find a safe place to get away, and see what happens. Relish the incredible ideas that come to mind, laugh at how easily your brain can solve problems that have bothered you for some time, watch how, after a time, those anxieties that plagued you, start to subside and find out if your sleep patterns improve. Your brains have been overheating, they have been over stimulated, too much information, so much unimportant clutter, so many issues that are beyond your control. Let you mind find a comfort zone – it deserves a day off.

Do the same for your kids and grandkids. Give them permission to be bored and see how they adapt. Stop feeding them diversion after diversion; planned stimulation after planned stimulation. Let them go outside and play, give them access to great books, and do them a favor by limiting their screen time. Your minds are incredible devices that don’t need to be forced to act.

Throughout history – boredom has led to some incredible inventions and concepts. Staring at how burdocks clung to clothes walking through a field led to the invention of Velcro, watching birds led to the science of aerodynamics, experiencing how goats milk stored in leather pouches led to the art and science of cheesemaking, and experiencing the power of rushing rivers led to development of turbines producing electricity. Let’s seek out a few opportunities to embrace boredom.

Now, if I can only follow my own advice.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Cues

www.harvestamericacues.com – BLOG