Boredom is a Superfood for the Brain

Embracing boredom has never been more difficulty. But, if you can allow the initial discomfort to pass, I firmly believe that being bored is among the best things you can do when it comes to nurturing the mind.

It can feel like removing the blinders from your brain; taking a caged hen and allowing it to roam free. Your mind can think without inhibition. Thoughts can simply arise and then pass. Life happens around you. You can be, instead of always feeling compelled to do.

Besides, if there is something you urgently need to get done, boring yourself for an hour is a surefire way to build up the motivation needed to take some action. Is motivation really what was needed in the first place? Everything seems endlessly more stimulating and worthwhile in comparison to doing nothing.

Coraline author Neil Gaiman cites boredom as a chief contributor to his creative output, advising that, “you have to let yourself get so bored that your mind has nothing better to do than tell itself a story.” Anecdotally, I wholeheartedly agree with this creative process.

I think doing nothing is a tremendous way to spend your time, because nothing is quite misleading. There are plenty of actions taking place, just not the kind that you’re used to feeling that instant rush of productivity from. Thinking can be a slow burn, but it’s where all the depth lies. Boredom grants you the ever-rarer permission to simply think, unencumbered, and let yourself exist. We’re more deprived of that space than ever before, but I think it’s never been more important.