Bored and Brilliant

Follow @manoushz

Boredom, we have all experienced it, and we are all guilty of suppressing our boredom. With social media and mobile devices, it hardly ever seems possible to become bored, but what if I told you that being bored is healthy.

Manoush Zomorodi, a journalist, turned podcast host has created a new stigma around being bored with her Bored and Brilliant movement. She recently gave a talk at TED about the connection between boredom and creativity.

Manoush said in her TED talk that we are more creative when we are bored. We need our boredom to critically think and to think creatively about topics we have been focusing on during our active time.

"Boredom sets our minds to its default setting," says Zomorodi during her TED talk.

If we are always multitasking and overloading on information, we significantly hinder our creativity. We as a society are constantly checking our social media platforms and emails because we think we need to be informed at all times. Except, we can not accurately analyze this information if we are never setting our minds to rest. Simply putting it, we need to be bored every once in a while so we can think clearly.

Putting down our devices and getting off social media for even a few hours a day can affect our thought process and help us become more creative when we need to be.

After listening and following Manoush Zomorodi and her theory of being bored, I decided to give it a try. For the past two weeks, I have made a point to put down my cell phone and laptop for at least two hours a day. Two whole hours being absent of twitter, podcasts, and mobile games. I thought I would never be able to do it. I used to believe that being bored was ultimately being lazy.

However, being bored is a blessing in disguise. Our natural ability to let our minds wander has been pushed aside due to the use of mobile devices and social media. I only realized this when I made the point to put down my devices and let my mind wander. I found that I was thinking more clearly on issues that I had been wondering about and became more creative in the classroom and when I was writing.

Manoush Zomorodi has provided me and many others with a way to become more creative, productive and happy.

Everyone should take a few hours out of their day to embrace being bored. Put down your phones, get off social media and allow your mind to wander. You never know what you might discover when you give in to being bored.