This is cute, in a “ohmigosh, I hope that’s not me, but it hits too close to home” kinda way:
I was prepping last night for an interview with Dahlia Kurtz. It was this afternoon on CJOB on her new afternoon show that started just yesterday. The topic was boredom at work and how boredom is really a form of stress.
Folks often turn to their phones/laptops/tablets when they are waiting in line, or “doing nothing” and getting bored as a way of doing something interesting. Paradoxically, it has an opposite effect. Screens fool the brain into thinking there is intense
novelty going on.
So, we go on Facebook, Youtube, or just generally surf the web with the illusion that we are stimulating our brain. However, we’re just seeing variations of the same thing, and actually, we are inducing boredom...our brains and our bodies are becoming more sedentary in a way that is not good for us.
It’s actually good for us to experience boredom…boredom is stressful, as our bodies get energy to move away from the lack of stimulation and move towards something novel. Parts of our brain that remember our stories and imagine things about others get stimulated with boredom.
When boredom is attended and responded to, that energy can help us innovate and create in cool ways. If we ignore the boredom, and the stress of boredom camps out, it can affect our mental and physical health.
Some of the most creative things happen when people are looking for ways not to be bored. Playful, interesting, engaging things…we grow and innovate out of the energy that boredom creates.
Step away from the screens, and let boredom motivate you towards something fun that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred to you!
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