Every Monday, my students have a weekly reading quiz. Students complete the quiz on paper, and it isn’t timed. Some students finish quickly while others take their time, but most of the class has 10 to 20 minutes to use as they please. There are three rules: no electronic devices, no talking, and no sleeping.
This weekly ritual transports students to before the Information Age—before publicly accessible Wi-Fi and the widespread use of handheld smart devices—when simply passing time was an activity. It reminds them, briefly, that without devices, they can be free to explore their thoughts.
Some educators might ask, “How could one waste nearly a third of a class on such boredom?” While this reaction is natural and understandable, it is also misinformed and shortsighted. As a society, we have come to place visible busy-ness and productivity at the top of an artificial pyramid of human existence while failing to appreciate the ancient value of a mind at rest. We have come to underestimate the benefits of boredom.
The Many Alternatives to Boredom
Boredom is often associated with a lack of meaning; we struggle to stay engaged in an activity when we don’t genuinely care about it. Some suggest that boredom stems from a lack of attention; when a task is either too hard or too easy, our concentration can wane, causing our attention to shift elsewhere. James Danckert, a neuroscientist who has studied boredom for the past two decades, describes boredom as a “desire conundrum,” of wanting to do something but not wanting to do anything. He adds that boredom arises when we are mentally unoccupied.
Our students currently have access to the most convenient and captivating alternatives to boredom we have ever encountered. It’s no wonder that our youth can often be found replacing their unstructured (boring) blocks of time with endless selections of passive and addictive entertainment.
Most people touch or look at their phone 2,617 times per day and spend more than two hours and 30 minutes using it, according to Michael Easter in his 2021 book The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self. The book also states that this is merely a fraction of the overall daily digital media consumption, which totals about 11 hours (with many teenagers reporting even higher usage numbers).
Using technology is a deliberate component of our modern lives. Using a computer or tablet at school, for example, is simply the way many students learn nowadays. However, a lot of this time is used to fill time—moments waiting for something or someone, walking to and from class, using public transportation, and the list goes on.
This behavior creeps into other social rituals and spaces. For example, we see students gathered at a cafeteria table, deeply immersed in an endless scroll on their phones, not interacting with their peers who are sitting right next to them. Students are voluntarily engaged with mindless, instantaneous pleasures of our most addictive streaming subscriptions and smartphone applications instead of the mindful activities that filled the time of previous generations—things like conversation with strangers, observation, contemplation, paying attention, or simply zoning out and daydreaming.
How the “Unfocused Mode” Helps Our Brains
Research on boredom and mind wandering—when an individual’s attention shifts from a task toward internal thoughts—is relatively recent, with most formal studies conducted in the past 10 to 20 years. The results identify two modes of brain activity, both of which play a crucial role in our overall mental health.
When we participate in an activity, it activates the brain’s “executive attention network,” which is responsible for the focus and attention needed to process information for external or goal-oriented tasks, such as cooking a complex meal, studying a foreign language, or practicing a sport.
Then, when we feel bored and our minds begin to wander, the brain goes into the “default mode network.” This happens when the brain is at rest, such as when we’re lying in a hammock, staring out a bus window, or waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Although we may view these moments as unproductive by modern standards, this perception couldn’t be further from the truth.
In a 2017 Psychology Today article, “Unplug, Get Bored, Create,” Lybi Ma writes, “When we lose focus on the outside world and drift inward, we’re not shutting down. We’re tapping into a vast trove of memories, imagining future possibilities, dissecting our interactions with other people, and reflecting on who we are.”
This state of mind is essential for rejuvenation, imagination, and creativity. It allows us to process complex information subconsciously, making us sharper when we return to a focused mode. Many can relate to stories of creative, “a-ha” moments while taking a shower, walking the dog, or fishing—times when our minds are free to wander and remain unfocused, without digital interruptions.
Why Do We Avoid Boredom?
When we allow our students to bury their boredom with digital distractions for several hours each day, we are robbing them of essential time previously spent in unfocused mode. This deprives their brains of necessary recovery time.
Cultivating mindful focus and appreciation for the present moment has been a goal of humanity for thousands of years. It’s very hard to do, and there are risks associated with an unoccupied mind. Those who struggle with thought control may find their minds drifting into negative thoughts, ruminating on past pain, or anxiously anticipating an uncertain future. Consequently, many people prefer to distract themselves rather than meditate or learn to control their thoughts when given the choice.
Our menu of potential distractions is more accessible, available, and addictive than ever, particularly for young people. Streaming services are designed to promote binge-watching, featuring cliffhanger storylines and auto-play functions that keep viewers engaged for longer. Likes, comments, and shares on social media cause surges of dopamine, leading to fleeting emotional highs similar to gambling and drug addiction. This only begins to scratch the surface of the power of the “endless scroll.”
The combination of these factors creates a recipe for poor mental health, as we may lose the ability to control our thoughts entirely. As Danckert concluded: “It seems plausible that our capacity to willfully control our attention just might wither in response to underuse.”
Witnessing the Shift in My Students
At the start of the academic year, the students often seem shocked by their weekly dose of post-quiz boredom. They fidget in their seats, tap or roll their fingers on their desks, pat the empty pockets where they normally keep their phone, or anxiously look around the room. It’s as if they are silently questioning how this could be a part of the day’s agenda.
As the weeks progress, though, it’s almost as if their minds instinctually recall what to do with this sort of time. Some create magnificent doodles or sketches on the back of their quizzes. Others gaze out the window, motionless, lost in thought. Some even play intense, silent matches of Hangman.
By the end of the year, when I eventually break the silence and resume the class, there is almost a hushed, collective sigh. This may be due to their dread about reviewing the quiz, but perhaps it’s also because they’ve come to value this time.
Maybe they’ve come to appreciate a break in the long academic day. Maybe they like how they feel with just 15 minutes of unstructured time. Maybe, just maybe, they’ve come to appreciate the true benefits of boredom.