Unpleasant feeling of Boredom

Why boredom is actually good for you

Sushanth Shajil
Nov 8 · 2 min read

In today’s society, it’s bizarrely common for us to pull our phones out of our pockets every now and then. If we’re standing in a queue, or if while we’re waiting for the movie to start, we often find ourselves swiping through apps to keep us occupied.

Our generation is insanely addicted to keeping our minds from being bored, simply because phones, laptops & electronic devices easily manage to shift our attention & focus in a very short period of time. A study made by Silicon Valley insiders found that majority of apps that run on our smartphones are designed to keep the user within the app for as long as possible.

There’s no surprise that greedy corporations want you to look at more ads so they can make a shitload of money for their own financial gain, but its important for us to pause & manage our digital wellbeing before it’s too late.

Its not all bad

I’m not stating that being on social media entirely is bad; it helps us stay connected to people & moreover, we get to dive into a small window of what our friends are doing with their lives. If we manage and monitor the valuable time we spend on our devices, studies have shown that we tend to actually be stress-free.

Here’s why boredom is good for you

If we’re making a conscious effort to not look at our phones, & instead, just be bored, it forces us to do something. It forces us to jump out of our comfort zones & actually do something productive.

It inspires us to create something of our own or just enjoy what’s around us. Either way we’re practising gratitude & feeling good about our accomplished tasks, so it’s a win-win.

Moreover, phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi have started to realize the importance of how we manage our time on their phones. Effective measures have been taken to integrate limits & timers into the OS itself, but there’s still a long way to go.

When was the last time you went to a coffee shop without your phone (like a psychopath), ordered a cup of coffee and truly enjoyed it without being distracted?

It’s time to give more importance to growth, contribution and bringing meaning to our lives instead of staring at billions of pixels on a daily basis.

Whichever you choose, dictates how your life is going to be henceforth.

Which is it going to be?

Sushanth Shajil

Written by

Author of Midnight Dreams & Unspoken Ardour. Google Play Developer, Graphic Designer & A Podcast Host. More @sushanthshajil.com

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