When is the last time you were bored?

Please watch this TED talk! Spare 15 minutes and then come back for some thoughts on it….

How are you filling the cracks in your day?  Instead of daydreaming while waiting for your latte, we now tend to update our social media platform, and “check in” at the coffee shop, so others know what we’re doing. 

I wanted to share this TED talk with you on boredom and the link to creativity.  This is a topic that comes up in sessions with clients: either the client is worried about their smartphone use, or we talk through how to set limits for their teen’s smartphone use.  This short TED talk by a journalist who consulted with researchers addresses our attention, smartphone use as a society, and allowing ourselves to have time where we are bored and allowing our minds to wonder.   

Our brains are not designed to multi-task.  What we are really doing is shifting our attention back and forth, using glucose and depleting neural resources each time.   There are a million things vying for our attention, and with smartphones, there are now thousands of engineers and designers all trying to capture and hold our attention.  And, with marketing endeavors, trying to monetize our attention. 

Now that smartphones are an integral part of our lives, on average, we pick them up 60 times a day (to see if we got an email or text), and spend more than 2 hours daily on them.  We use them to navigate somewhere while driving, or to check the weather to see when it’s going to rain.  We access the internet to look up the score of the game, or call to order a pizza.  But, we also have many social media apps and spend time socializing that way with others.  Zomorodi talks about a study she did with her listeners called “Bored and Brilliant”.  Watch the TED talk for details of the study and the results!  

Her final thoughts suggest asking yourself, “What am I really looking for?....  But if it’s to distract yourself from doing the hard work that comes with deeper thinking, take a break and stare out the window.  And, know that by doing nothing, you are actually being your most productive and creative self.” 

After you watch the talk, please share with us your thoughts.  And, share with us how else you spend the cracks in YOUR day?   

The mental health therapists at our office offer counseling for a variety of issues including trauma using EMDR, depression, anxiety, grief, and couples counseling. We work with teens, adults, and couples. We also offer online counseling services which can be great for people with busy schedules or for people who live in parts of Pennsylvania with limited counseling options. You can check out our website to see the full list of counseling services that we offer. Or, Request An Appointment here.