The Benefits Of Being Bored

A little downtime can bring about many rewards

The next time the kids shout out “I’m bored”, you can tell them that’s a good thing! Why? Learning how to do nothing could be the most vital skill for thriving, with recent studies proving that downtime can be beneficial in many different ways. So, stop mindlessly scrolling social media, turn off the TV, set your phone to silent and just sit. Here’s why…

BOREDOM CAN HELP YOU BECOME MORE CREATIVE

Next time you are clock-watching, you might come up with a big idea! A study published in 2019 in the Academy of Management Discoveries journal found that boredom can spark individual creativity. The participants were asked to sort through a bowl of beans and separate by colours – a boredom-inducing task – and they performed better on an idea-generating task than peers who first completed an interesting craft activity.