The Benefits Of Boredom
IN THE MODERN AGE boredom has never been easier to avoid. And society is worse off for it. We've been taught to believe it's a defect we need to fix right away. Boredom is commonly associated with:
Laziness
Depression
Time Wasting
Feeling Unfulfilled
But this isn't necessarily true. The real problem is that you can immediately pick up your phone for a cheap hit of dopamine as soon as you feel the onset of boredom.
It's the same as an addiction to sugar, alcohol or drugs. A neuro-chemical phenomenon. It numbs you from the discomfort of doing nothing. And your tolerance for boredom will decrease until your entire waking life is just a series of instant gratifications.
You'll live paycheque to paycheque mentally. Devoid of long-term direction, lasting fulfillment, and self-reflection that's required for a high quality life that you actually want.
Boredom is your superpower for living a well-intentioned life full of meaning, purpose and happiness.
So let's dive into the benefits and understand why you should give yourself permission to be bored more often.
1. Work Less To Get More Done
Working harder is the lazy way to be productive. If farmers thought the solution to growing more food was to just keep working harder with wooden plows, we'd all starve to death. Doubling our output by doubling our inputs only gets us so far.
We need moments of rest to develop high-leverage solutions like tractors and irrigation systems which allowed farmers to 10x their productivity while working less.
Novel insights come from the brain switching into the Default Mode Network (DMN), which is a relaxed state in which the mind can wander. Ideas, goals and past experiences collide in creative ways that create spontaneous eureka moments. But you need a level of boredom to open up the right side of your brain and access the DMN.
This is why so many breakthrough ideas come to you in the shower, on a walk, or even during sleep! In other words, doing nothing can be one of the most productive things you do.
2. Mental Focus
In a world of constant stimulation, our attention spans have become weak. We can't even sit through 30 seconds of social media reels without feeling a compulsion to swipe to the next one.
Boredom is resistance training for your mind. The more you can tolerate boredom, the better you can resist distractions. The better you can focus on a single task a time. This is important because in order to enter a "flow state" for deep work, you need unbroken stretches of concentration.
When you check messages, doom scroll or task switch, you interrupt that focus. You'll be stuck at the surface, never accessing the depth you need with your work to get you the results you want. This is true whether you're a software developer, a carpenter, or a student.
3. Self-Awareness
When you're not drowning in mindless entertainment, your brain can actually process all your emotions and experiences. Self-reflection time is important for the mental clarity you need to control the direction of your life.
If you're always in a "fight or flight" mode, then you're only ever dealing with responsibilities and obligations right in front of you. Always caught up in the "what" and "how" without ever understanding "why".
When's the last time you sat down to really assess what you're doing with your time? Is it actually what you want to be doing? Have you even considered if what you want is even good for you?
This kind of meta-cognition can't happen if you're always living a life in a reactionary way. You're letting life happen to you rather than taking control of it.
This is why you have to cultivate mindfulness. And you can do it in a variety of ways:
Walking
Journaling
Meditation
Breathwork
Float Therapy
Boredom isn’t the enemy—it’s the birthplace of creativity, focus, and self-awareness. If you can sit in boredom without distraction, you'll be part of a small minority that lives more thoughtfully and intentionally. You'll create a life for yourself you won't feel the need to escape from.
Put away your phone and be ok with the discomfort of doing nothing. I promise you it gets easier. It even becomes enjoyable. Just like how riding a bike becomes more fun once you actually learn how to do it well, it just takes patience to get good at sitting with yourself.
Our 8’ x 4.5’ x 6.5’ Float Cabins at GoFloat Studios
Float tanks are training wheels that can speed up that learning process. It takes away all distraction, including the external sensory stimulus of light, sound, gravity and even your sense of touch. There's nothing to focus on except the contents of your own mind and body. You don't need to fight distractions because the float tank does that for you.
And if you've already got a good mindfulness practice in place, then floating will only take you even deeper.
So when you're ready to book your first float, Enter Your Email Below and get our First-Time Float Offer!
