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• In a world driven by technology, our inability to sit with our thoughts affects us more than we realize.

• Redevelop ‘boredom’ into your life to enhance the quality of your life.

• Take the time to recover from this relentlessly distracting world we live in.

Unlocking The Power of Boredom

In 1654, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote a sentence that seems so timeless yet timely:

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."

Of course, if the wrong man got too bored back then, he would start a war. Let's hope we've evolved from this…

I've always been fascinated by this quote and how it stands the test of time.

If you're like me, I find myself retrieving my phone from my pocket in the slightest moment of what we call "boredom."

• Standing in line

• Waiting in a waiting room

• In slight breaks in conversation

• At red lights…(I know, its awful)

It's a horrible habit that ebbs and flows in my life.

But the real problem is our inability to allow ourselves to be bored with our thoughts.

That's why we reach for our phone, check email for no reason, and spend countless hours watching movies we regret.

The benefits of allowing boredom are pretty powerful: it improves mental health, increases creativity, creates curiosity, sparks more fulfilling goals, and develops more controlled emotions.

So, how do we learn how to be bored again?

(It's worth pointing out that the word 'boredom' in this context represents anything that forces you to give yourself permission to be less "busy" for the sake of being busy and more (tech-free) time with no agenda.)

Finding Time to 'Be Bored'

If you grew up in the 1990s, you didn't dare say, "I'm bored." That was guaranteed to get you a handful of household chores you were currently sliding by without (or threatened to have your Nintendo sold).

The adult version of this has become the default to scrolling our phones for the latest headline or sports score or flipping through the channels to find something (anything) that will help us pass the time.

Sadly, the real problem is that we have a horrible relationship with time.

So much so that we don't even filter what we say "yes" toward.

Instead, we check our email for the 377th time or log on to Twitter rather than sit with our thoughts about that new idea we are wrestling with or a struggle that needs addressing (rather than avoiding).

The reality: Boredom represents a time to think deeper about our lives, who we want to become, and what we should actually be pursuing. Instead, we are numbing ourselves out with screens—a similar trait of addiction.

So it's likely we have time.

But as Seneca said, "It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it."

Crafting more boredom into your life is critical to wasting less time on things that don't matter.

Here's where to start…

Creating Your Boredom

Pick one simple boredom-cultivating activity each day.

Quick ground rules:

• No TV

• No phone

• No technology

• No social media

Your goal is to permit yourself to do nothing, 'to be.' To let go of the attachment to busyness:

• Go for a walk

• Read a physical book

• Sit in a room and just think

• Enjoy time with a loved one or friend (Remember the rules above)

The goal is to spend some moments of your day allowing yourself not to be controlled by your impulses or internal need to be busy or tethered to technology.

Start with 10 minutes.

Work yourself up from there if you can.

By prioritizing 'boredom' or 'stillness' in your life, you force your mind to think, create, and work through things rather than cope, consume, and numb out what's happening.

Here are some things I try and work into my schedule as many days as possible:

• No phone for the first 90 minutes.

• Journal 1 page every morning for clarity.

• Get outside for a walk as many days as possible.

• A few mornings or evenings a week just sit with my thoughts.

After several years of practicing this, I can confidently say: It's those moments of quiet solitude, of 'boredom,' that I've been able to listen for the most significant directions for my life.

I would encourage everyone to build enough 'boredom' into their life to hear their greatest instructions for life.

If you're still struggling with this idea, here are a few questions to help you:

• Am I passing the time in a healthy way?

• What are you saying 'yes' to out of guilt to idleness?

• Is taking a few minutes to do 'nothing' really going to 'put me behind'?

Reality: Our to-do list will never entirely be complete. And even if it were, we'd have another 15 items pop up the next day.

Allow Room For Recovery

Our lives are busy.

It's easy in today's world to constantly feel the urge not to sit still or even to escape our own thoughts.

You have to fight this urge...even if only for a few minutes a day.

We've been conditioned to believe this is an unhealthy idleness.

I would argue that the pendulum has swung too far, and we now don't fully and healthily recover from our days.

In a world driven by technology and movement, here are the benefits of giving yourself permission to be bored:

• More creativity

• Deeper presence

• Healthier relationships

• More profound clarity on soul-driven solutions

Boredom can help get you back in touch with your life.

Give it a try and see what you think.

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