“Maa, I’m bored!”
How we dread to hear those words. Doesn’t matter that they’ve a hundred things to do, they’ll still terrorise you with that one sentence.
Their cupboards are full of games and toys and books, they’ve their own laptops and phones. And yet they can’t figure out how to keep themselves engaged.
And it’s not just the kids. Even many adults I’ve met have found themselves in that state. And their solutions are not something advisable or worth emulating.
I mean while children announce their boredom loudly, adults disguise it with scrolling, snacking or jumping to the next ‘productive’ thing.
So, the question here is why do we get bored? Or rather why does the brain get bored so easily?
Maybe because there’re so many options, the mind gets overwhelmed and can’t decide what to do. And the easiest, but not the most appropriate, name for this listless state is ‘bored’.
Or maybe, so used to the fast paced of living, celebrating speed as efficiency, the mind doesn’t get the time to think and figure out what’s the one thing that can genuinely interest you.
Haven’t you noticed how the second you feel you’ve nothing to do, you pick up the phone, refresh tabs, scroll numbly, open a new app. It’s as if accepting boredom is like a personal failure.
The latest ‘interest’ lasts but a few minutes, and then the stillness feels awkward and unproductive.
Boredom becomes unacceptable. As if there’s something wrong with you.
But the uncomfortable truth is that boredom isn’t a flaw; it’s a filter. Hear me out on this.
The moment you realise that you’re feeling bored is the time you find yourself distracted. Whatever you’re working on, no longer excites you. It feels slow or repetitive. And then you panic.
You deep dive to figure out what excites you. Ideas keep popping in your head faster than you can process them. Then equally fast you reject them – one by one.
That’s because they’re the same old ones – maybe you’ve heard them before, or borrowed from someone earlier, or even recycled them without effort.
These are the familiar, socially conditioned thoughts which lack that spark to hook you.
When you work or sit with an idea (or even a project) long enough, you begin getting bored. It’s no longer stimulates you.
You’ve used up all the obvious thoughts and ideas, and are now feeling spent.
But what if you decided to stay? What happens then?
Maybe irritation or frustration sets in, for not making any progress. Then maybe self-doubt –Why am I still doing this? Or It’s a waste of time.
You look around for ways to exit or call it quits.
But things happen beyond this stage. You’ll notice changes in patterns, new connections forming, slowly clarity appears. The shift is gradual but definitely there.
Pushed to the corner, the mind stops performing the regular and starts revealing what’s there deep within.
This shows that fast ideas are familiar or borrowed or recycled, of little use. It’s the delayed or earned ideas which are the result of uncomfortable, slow brewing in the mind, the original ideas.
I’ve seen this in writing, teaching, and even parenting. The breakthrough rarely comes during the enthusiastic beginning.
The first draft is always a dump. It’s only after a few revisions that I find myself able to exactly put across what I wanted to. The final turns out very different from the draft, ideas are still the same, but much clearer and refined.
The beginning is often buoyed by the rush of adrenalin and positivity. Once they wear off and you mentally check out, things begin to happen.
The solutions appear when you’ve exhausted the obvious answers, and forced your brain to think harder, think differently.
So, boredom is your mind’s way of telling you to go beyond the obvious, and think deeper.
It’s like crossing the threshold between surface level thinking and real insight, between the obvious and the original, between copying and creating.
The next time boredom comes knocking, don’t panic and ignore.
Get bored. Ask why you’re bored, and what can get you excited. Don’t get carried away with the first idea only to find yourself at the same place in a few minutes.
Sit with it. Let it unsettle you. Because if you want your mind to give that powerful and exciting insights that you want, then let it wear itself out thinking the usual stuff first. The best is yet to come.
Don’t go rushing to rescue those who are feeling bored. Look at them as undergoing a much-needed cognitive development. Intervening is depriving them of a chance to grow.
Original thinking isn’t found. It’s forged in the deep recesses of your mind. It’s endured. Trust me, what comes after is worth the wait.
