Setting Time Aside to be Brilliant: Being Bored VS Confronting Ideas

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.