How can boredom be beneficial?

How can boredom be beneficial? I absolutely love this TED talk by Manoush Zomorodi about boredom. She tells a story about how her boredom and mind wandering was put to good use when she created her dream job.

She realised that her best ideas had come to her when she was bored. Once she got a smartphone, all her spare time was spent on that, and she had stopped being bored.

Manoush decided to investigate what happens when we get bored. It causes our brain to move into the default mode, when our bodies are on autopilot and our brain becomes very busy.

Daydreaming allows us to think beyond the conscious into the subconscious, allowing different connections to take place. We connect disparate ideas, solve nagging problems, and do autobiographical planning. This is where we look back at our lives, create a personal narrative and set our goals.

By attempting to multitask we are merely shifting our attention from one thing to another, which uses up brain resources. When we are stressed, we shift our attention more rapidly.

Manoush designed an experiment to encourage people to stop using their phones so much. She hoped it would help boost creativity. People were averaging two hours a day on their phones, and picking them up 60 times a day to check for messages.

Smartphones are designed to get our attention, all the time. If a product is free, then our attention is the true product. People really struggled with deleting their favourite apps from their phone, because they are so addictive. Changing behaviour is difficult.

The level of connectivity we experience now may have consequences, such as reducing creativity and imagination. Reducing our use of social media gives us more time to think, and may help improve our sleep as well as our overall happiness!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 186 days to go!