Bring on the boredom -- being idle is good for you (it’s official)
YOU’RE at home and you’ve turned off your smartphone. Now you’re turning off your tablet, TV, Kindle, AppleWatch . . . and you’re just sitting there. Doing nothing. If the thought of this makes you sweat, then you’re one of an increasing number of people who have forgotten how to be idle.
“I think we’ve lost the capacity to be bored occasionally, to be by ourselves, or just sit and stare,” said writer and academic Eva Hoffman, whose new book, How to Be Bored , has just been published.
“We need to reclaim the ability to do that; to reflect and look inwards are very important to our wellbeing.”
However, it has also become something we avoid. A study by the University of Virginia in 2014 found that 18 of the 42 students questioned chose to give themselves an electric shock rather than sit in solitude for 15 minutes.
Yet Hoffman believes periods of doing nothing can actually be good for our health — if only to give us time out from the constant bleep of digital distractions.
“The onset of technology, which in many ways is wonderful, really does increase the problem,” she said. “I think we are massively
LEKKER LAZY: Chair of the bored addicted to it and it’s difficult for us to step away from our devices.”
She has identified a “runner’s high” that we get from things like receiving tweets and Facebook likes.
“Going from one activity to the next can feel exciting moment by moment, but I think it forestalls the possibility of a deeper sense of satisfaction and pleasure.
“That needs to come from within and from a sense that we have goals that are more long-lasting. Without this feeling of purpose we can feel anxious and disoriented.
“I’m not advocating being really and deeply bored,” Hoffman said. “Doing nothing can be hard for us, so we should initiate ourselves into it gradually.
“We’re very afraid of being idle because we associate it with laziness, so maybe take 15 minutes in the morning or evening, leave your smartphone at home or turned off, and let your mind wander.”
But is there a right boredom? A German-led team of researchers has identified five states of boredom, ranging from “indifferent boredom” (how you feel when your partner is droning on about work) to “apathetic boredom” (when you’re so bored you can’t motivate yourself to do anything).
“I don’t advocate systematic boredom, which can lead to lethargy and depression. But gentle boredom is a pleasurable state, an ability to relish a moment without doing anything.” — Telegraph, London
“How to Be Bored” by Eva Hoffman, published by Pan Macmillan (R190) will be released in South Africa this week