Harnessing Boredom to Foster Creativity
Boredom can give way to our creative potential.
Nowadays, we live in a society in which we have normalized being constantly active, constantly doing some task or other.
We have grown up learning that hyperactivity is a good thing and that, on the contrary, doing nothing is a sure sign of wasting time. This idea often makes us fall into the trap of being hyper-busy, whether it is working, doing housework, or doing chores. whether it's working, doing housework, meeting friends, going to the gym or planning other types of leisure activities. This is because acknowledging that we do nothing has become socially unacceptable.
The value of boredom
In these busy times, it is difficult to find the formula that allows us to reconcile our personal life with our professional life, so the day-to-day obligations do not leave much time left. It seems that we are not able to leave ourselves a space in our day to do nothing, that is to say, to give ourselves time to do nothing.We don't seem to be able to leave time in our day to do nothing, that is to say, to give ourselves time for the dreaded boredom to arise.
It is possible that if, for example, we imagine being only one hour without looking at our cell phone, TV, doing housework or talking on the phone or whatsapp with other people, the simple idea can already generate discomfort.
The truth is that boredom has become an emotion that we have catalogued as negative and unpleasant. and unpleasant. It is for this reason that many of us prefer to keep this unpleasant feeling far away from us.
Still, perhaps we should remember that boredom is a powerful generator of creativity and productivity. Thus, if we allow ourselves to leave space for boredom, we will see how imagination will give rise to ideas that will help us to break with our routines and allow us to reach much deeper reflections.
The tendency to avoid the dead hours
We have been in confinement for many days now, and for a relatively short time now, it seems that we are approaching the beginning of the we seem to be approaching the beginning of a new normality.. Although we are now allowed to go out alone, as a couple or with our children for walks or physical exercise, there are still many hours that we must remain at home for our own well-being as well as that of others.
Since the onset of the alarm state and after the adaptation period that implies a change in our daily habits and routines, many of us have already we have established and organized new routines at home, schedules for getting up and going to bed, meal schedules, finding a space for physical exerciseWe have tried to find a way to cope with a truly exceptional situation that has caught us totally unprepared and that has generated a great emotional impact on all of us.
Among all the formulas to manage the day to day, we have also looked for different stimuli to entertain us, but even so... are we taking advantage of the situation to give space to boredom? Possibly, a great majority of readers will have planned each day so that there is no room for boredom because it implies, especially initially, a certain discomfort. The lack of habits in the art of doing nothing pushes us to look for different distractions. to reduce such discomfort.
Perhaps it is interesting to ask ourselves if we can make boredom a challenge for our self-knowledge, to discover those facets of ourselves that we have never had the opportunity to let flow before.
The creative potential of imagination
Although it may seem that only a few lucky ones have the great ability to be creative, to invent, to build the unimaginable from a blank piece of paper, the truth is that creativity is part of the human condition.. If we think back to our memories of when we were little, we will remember the great capacity for imagination that we had.
The moments when the funniest games and the most bizarre stories were born were precisely those moments when we had nothing to do or nothing to entertain us. It was then when we were able to build a world full of adventures with just a shoebox, some markers or a sheet or any element that we found wherever we were.
At that time when we were not constantly overstimulated by watching TV, connected to social networks, playing video games or playing with one of the countless apps.... it was our mind that, in a natural and curious way, managed to build a magical world..
And it is easy that our daily lives, routines, worries and obligations that we all have have caused us to move away without practically realizing this potential that we all have inside. Therefore, we invite you to give a twist to the confinement and take the opportunity to train and develop the creativity that we all have.
Let's observe what happens when we dedicate some time to boredom and creativity.. Let's dedicate some time to new challenges to help make the quarantine more positive for each of us. Let's find a space in the day to "plan" to do nothing so that we can leave room for that dreaded boredom. The creativity that emerges in this context is amazing.
(Updated at Apr 15 / 2024)