#342: Why Boredom is Good for You

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2017

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the age where smartphones provide constant stimulation, many of us have forgotten what it feels like to experience the monotony of boredom. And while on the surface that might seem like a good thing, my guest today highlights research that not being bored can actually make us dumber and less creative. Her name is Manoush Zomorodi, she’s the host of the podcast Note to Self and the author of the book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self." Today on the show, Manoush shares her experience of how feeling scattered and less creative led her to create an experiment that tested whether her lack of boredom in recent years was to blame. We then dig into the philosophy of boredom and why we dread it so much. Manoush then goes into what the latest research says about the benefits of boredom, like increased creativity, better productivity, and improved mental well-being. Finally, she walks us through some exercises you can use to help inject more boredom in your life. (Yes, you read that right.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
0:15.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:18.8	And the age where smartphones provide constant stimulation,
0:21.5	many of us have forgotten what it feels like to experience the monotony of boredom.
0:26.0	And while on the surface that might seem like a good thing,
0:28.5	my guest today highlights research that not being bored
0:32.1	can actually make us dumber and less creative.
0:34.9	Her name is Manusha Somoroti. She's the host of the podcast, Note to Self.
0:38.0	And the author of the book, Bored and Brilliant,
0:39.9	how spacing out can unlock your most productive and creative self.
0:43.7	Today on the show, Manush shares her experience of how feeling scattered and less creative
0:47.5	letter to create an experiment that tested whether her lack of boredom in recent years was to blame.
0:52.4	We then dig into the philosophy of boredom and why we dread it so much.
0:55.6	Manusha then goes into what the latest research says about the benefits of boredom,
0:59.3	like increased creativity, more productivity, and improved mental well-being.
1:03.5	And then she walks us through some exercises you can do to help inject a bit more boredom
1:08.3	in your life. And note it's going to sound crazy and counter-tutive, boredom's good free,
1:11.9	but it is. After the show's over, check out the show notes at a-wim.is slash boredom.
1:26.0	Manusha Somoroti, welcome to the show.
1:34.0	Oh, but thanks for having me.
1:35.3	So you recently published a book, Bored and Brilliant, rediscovering the lost art of spacing out.
1:41.1	This was the impetus behind the book was this experiment you did with your
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