This is probably the best explanation that I have come across in a long time for the power of boredom. The current zeitgeist is all about shunning boredom. People do not want to feel the boredom. The moment they are alone with their thoughts, out comes the phone or the tablet and we get lost in the world of social media or the imaginary world of audio/video content.
I am as guilty of this as anyone else. However, everyday, I slow down and observe what is around me, look for beauty in the surroundings and try to enjoy it. Sometimes, I also capture it using my phone (that is always with me). One of the things that I am working on is to learn to let go of the need to carry my phone along with me during these walks.
Sometimes listening to the birds chirping, the frogs croaking and all the insects making their music is calming and relaxing. Sometimes, when I am doing this, an idea props up in my mind, which when worked on helps me with a project that I was struggling with. In fact, most of my most creative ideas come to me when I am walking in nature, allowing inspiration to strike.
The merging of our inner and outer worlds (when we are bored) is when our insights collide and combine in new ways allowing us to be more creative. There is no doubt in my mind that the ability to experience boredom and stay with the feeling enhances our ability to come up creativity connections and combinations that are not obvious otherwise. I have written about this earlier here, here and here as well.
The question then is the following:
Do we have space in our calendars to allow boredom to creep in? Do we have time to day dream? Do we have time to allow our mind to wander and look for interesting connections to make?
– Mukesh GUpta
We will do really well, creatively speaking, if we allow space for boredom to be experienced in our lives.
Let’s give our devices some time off and wander within.
And as leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that our teams have the space on their calendars to engage in some mind-wandering, if we want them to be creative problem solvers as well.
