I find that it’s really difficult to find time to be bored these days because it seems like there’s always something demanding our attention. Whether that demand comes from schoolwork, trying to find a job, scrolling through social media, or any other number of time-consuming and mentally exhausting activities, amidst such overstimulation, it’s so important to carve out moments of time where you can just enjoy the things going on around you, and embrace being bored.
When I talk about being bored, I don’t mean it in the sense of sitting in your room and staring at the wall with nothing to do. Instead, I would define boredom as doing any activity that gives your mind a break from the constant probes of everyday worries and gives it time to explore personal interests. This means that boredom can and should be enjoyable, as it necessitates doing something for yourself rather than working towards a goal set for you by someone else.
“Boredom can and should be enojoyable.”
Eloise Krause
I believe that at any age, there’s a stigma around the concept of boredom as if allowing yourself to be bored, thereby taking time off from the never-ending stream of tasks before you, means you’re not working hard enough. It’s as if there’s always something you should be doing to become successful, and taking time for yourself means you’re failing at moving closer to future goals. It’s such an unhealthy mindset, and I find it to be especially prevalent in college.
This semester of school has been, without a doubt, my most enjoyable out of the four total semesters I’ve been enrolled in UC Berkeley. Yet, when people ask me what I’ve been up to, I don’t have many exciting things to tell them, because I’ve been finding the most joy in doing things like Zumba, walking with my friends while we talk about anything that comes to our minds, cooking, and just being outside. I love to do these activities because I can turn my mind off, and for even an hour I’m not focused on anything besides the moment I’m in.
However, it sometimes feels like these things are a waste of my time, because a lot of the people I talk to at school seem to spend every free moment they have searching for internships, or jobs, or participating in clubs they don’t even like because they feel like they should. Obviously, it’s important to dedicate time to activities that will be beneficial for future endeavors, but the majority of those people who pack every hour of their day with such endeavors are always so stressed, and they don’t give themselves the grace to figure out what really makes them happy.
Giving yourself the time to be bored contributes to success just as much, if not more, than always doing some form of work, because it allows you to ponder what’s really important to you. You can take a step back from the tasks you have before you, and decide if the goal you’re working towards is really what you want. Boredom reinforces productivity because it gives you energy and motivation to continue doing mentally treacherous activities.
Overall, I would say that everyone deserves some amount of time in the day to be bored, because it’s unnecessary to always be doing something that requires great concentration and exhaustive work. Boredom, in my opinion, is a time when you give your brain a break from stimulation and do something that allows you to enjoy the present moment. Since taking time for myself to be bored, I’ve found out a lot about my own priorities and feel more productive than ever.