Whatever Happened to Being Bored?

When was the last time you were truly, achingly bored. The kind of boredom where you just sit there, staring at the ceiling, contemplating life, your past mistakes, and whether or not to eat the bag of chips in your bag. The kind of boredom that makes you invent a game out of literally nothing—like throwing a balled-up sock at the ceiling fan and seeing where it lands.

In the 90s and before, growing up, boredom was a rite of passage. It was a slow, suffocating force that turned kids into artists, writers, schemers, and explorers. It made us creative because there was nothing else to do. You either found a way to entertain yourself, or you were left alone with your thoughts—which, now that I think about it, might have been the first taste of existential dread.

But today? It seems nobody gets bored anymore. Every empty second is immediately filled with a screen, a scroll, a podcast, or a voice memo. The second we need to wait for a train or for a red light, we reach for our phones, checking for updates. If a show doesn’t immediately grab our attention, we’re watching it with our laptop open and texting at the same time.

Boredom Built My Personality

I owe so much of who I am to being bored. Boredom is where I first started writing. Where I made up ridiculous stories, invented games and a hieroglyphic inspired language with my friends, and spent hours just thinking. It forced me to imagine, to observe, to sit in discomfort long enough to find something interesting.

And now I wonder: if I had grown up with TikTok, YouTube, and an endless scroll of distractions, would I have ever learned how to be alone with my thoughts? Would I have written, created, or discovered anything without the pressure of having absolutely nothing better to do?

The Problem with Never Being Bored

While we may trick ourselves, it isn’t a harmless habit to fill every free second with entertainment It robs us of quiet moments where real ideas are born. It takes away the space we need to reflect, to process, to sit with a thought long enough for it to turn into something.

When we never let ourselves be bored, we never let ourselves wonder. And wondering—about life, about people, about what might happen next—is where creativity, insight, and even personal growth happen.

Bringing Boredom Back

I’m not saying we all need to throw our phones in the ocean (tempting, though). But maybe we should start giving ourselves permission to just… do nothing.

• Resist the urge to fill every gap. Leave your phone in your pocket while waiting in line. Just stand there. Stare at a wall. Let your brain wander.

• Let silence be okay. You don’t need a podcast while you brush your teeth. You don’t need a show playing in the background at all times.

• Take a walk without your phone. If you see something cool, just remember it. You don’t have to document everything.

• Let kids get bored. It’s not your job to entertain them 24/7. Boredom will make them creative. It will also make them more interesting adults.

The Bottom Line? Boredom is a Gift.

Boredom isn’t the enemy—it’s the space where ideas, creativity, and even self-awareness thrive. It’s where we remember that we don’t need to be constantly stimulated to exist. That sometimes, the best ideas, the most interesting thoughts, and the funniest memories come from those long, empty moments where there was nothing else to do.

So next time you feel boredom creeping in—don’t reach for your phone. Sit with it. Let your mind wander. Who knows? You might just come up with something brilliant. Or, at the very least, get really good at throwing balled-up socks at ceiling fans.