In a recent school
reading, Zomorodi discussed the idea that boredom can lead to productive thinking.
The class disagreed. Let’s re-analyze the idea of “productive boredom” and see
if we can maybe recategorize what that means.
Before getting into what this
recategorization would look like, I should probably explain why boredom isn’t actually
such a great thing. Zombodi talked about how being bored (as she was taking
care of a baby and taking that baby on walks) forced her to mull over ideas and
how that wound up being kind of brilliant. Having said that, there’s a difference
between setting aside some time to process ideas (what those walks perhaps
were) and being genuinely bored. Perhaps she was genuinely bored and perhaps
that works for some people, but, even if we assume that it’s good for some
people, boredom is terrible for others (such as myself, and apparently, my
classmates, based on how much we all seemed to disagree with her.) Being left
alone with one’s thoughts can allow one’s mind to stew in a cauldron of worry,
analyzing the choices one’s made and questioning every little thing, ultimately,
only serving to deepen and strengthen anxiety.
Maybe what we actually want, instead
of boredom/ruminating self-doubt, is just to set aside certain amounts of time
to work through certain ideas. And the idea of taking a walk is actually a
pretty good way to do that, since it sets a time limit (the time it takes to go
from A to B and back) and is active. I’m a fan of walking while thinking because,
for one thing, it prevents me from getting too drowsy. The repetitive motion of
walking forward just seems to help one to focus, sometimes. Perhaps that’s why
movie characters always seem to pace around when they’re intensely pondering an
idea.
But what does setting time aside to
process stuff even mean, in terms of practice? Well, I’ve come up with four
different ways that we could categorize the act of setting time aside to go
over certain ideas. The first two are more to do with personal thoughts and
feelings, while the second two are about slightly more technical roadblocks.
The first category, and perhaps the
category that Zombodi unknowingly used while walking, is Unstructured
Thinking Time. This one is especially good if you’ve been dealing with a
very full plate and have been generally busy and/or stressed out. Just allow
your mind to wander to all of the ideas you pushed back because you were too
busy. How could things be better? Further explore those thoughts of improvement.
What are some things you’d like to work towards? What are the steps you need to
take to reach those goals you keep pushing out of your head because they seem unattainable
and you just never have the time? There’s also a subcategory to Unstructured
Thinking Time, and it’s literally just Daydreaming Time. Screw all
of that “real” stuff—make a story in your head that you can project onto and
use as a symbol of personal strength in your real life. It doesn’t have to be good;
it just has to be fun, whatever that looks like for you. Daydream about what
your life will be like when you’ve achieved those “unattainable goals.” Grab
some earbuds and make a music video or animatic in your head as you walk. It
should be fun, freeing, and creative, and you should let yourself roll with it.
The second category is Introspective
Thinking Time. I know, I mentioned earlier how boredom induces introspection,
and how that’s a bad thing. However, Introspection is only bad if it’s
unstructured and out of control. If you set aside a limited time to work
through certain feelings you’ve had, choices you’ve made, what you’re really
looking for in life, and so on, then that can be healthy and productive. Try to figure out why you’ve been feeling that
way and how you can improve your situation, or if there’s something you’re
missing, rather than just stewing in doubt. Make sure that there’s something else
to do at the end of the time period you’ve set though, otherwise you may risk
not being able to pull yourself out of that thought process. This one is best
done in a private place, so it’s easier to let yourself be a little bit
vulnerable, and cry or laugh or scream, if that’s what you need to do.
But not every issue in life is a strictly
personal one, and that takes us to the third category: Problem-Solving Time.
Maybe there’s unresolved tension of some kind between you and a friend or a
co-worker, and it’s been seriously throwing off your mojo. Maybe you’ve been given
a complicated project and you don’t know what to do for it. Maybe you’re just
overwhelmed by everything everyone else needs you to do in general and you need
to figure out how to get everything organized. When you see a character in a
movie or a show pacing around after being confronted with an obstacle, this is
the category they’re using, by the way.
The final category (that I’ve come
up with) is Idea-Generation Time (not that any ideas are entirely new.) This
is similar to the previous category, but while it focused on issues that come
up in interaction and workload, this one focuses on creative thinking. If the
Daydream subcategory and the Problem-Solving category were fused like Garnet, this
would be that fusion. Maybe you’re trying to write a story, but you’ve hit a
roadblock. Maybe you need to work past artist’s block. Maybe your lyrics don’t
seem quite right. This one is all about setting some time to wander through
those creative problems and try to formulate an idea of how to fix them. Try
different things in your head for an hour or two, and maybe you’ll come back
ready to productively create.
Of course, there are likely even
more categories and subcategories that I just couldn’t think of for this. Different
situations call for different approaches. However, these four are a good place
to start, and are definitely a little different from simply being bored.
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