Is boredom becoming a luxury?

May 8, 2012

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As I shut down my laptop and take stock of my to-dos for the next day, my phone starts to ring. I make a beeline for my car, talking on the phone. I am likely going to be late for my 7:30 squash game. It strikes me that there is always more than one thing to do at any given time. No one around me seems to have any downtime anymore.

So, is boredom becoming a luxury?

Living in a world of “continuous partial attention” people always appears to be multi-tasking.

Or, are they really?

Listening to “Marketing over Coffee”, I start driving. So, can humans really multi-task?

If all the studies, statistics, and blogs are right, not really. But then, how about the “second screen” phenomenon. Marketers are lining up to develop applications for you to watch TV and browse your mobile device, at the same time.

The consensus appears to be that, if the tasks themselves were akin to walking and chewing gum, you are OK. On the other hand, you would not want your Dentist interrupting your root canal session, to check the number of “likes” on her Facebook page.

Once again, there is constant availability of information and tools that you can immerse yourself in if you have the inclination.

So, whatever happened to boredom?

How will you explain the meaning of boredom to your children? Can you really become creative, if you were not bored? I feel a little nostalgic about the times when I used to complain about having nothing to do. I need to figure out ways to get bored again.

Boredom is becoming a luxury, enjoy it while you still can!

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Dax Nair

Ex-Techie | Racquet Sports & Travel Blogger | Real-World Experiences

Comments

5 responses to “Is boredom becoming a luxury?”

Connie Misavage

November 1, 2012

Hi Margaret, blessings Connie Misavage

Reply
Savi

May 22, 2012

Kids are still bored all the time, even in a world of constant over-stimulation – it gets boring. Adults can always choose to shut themselves off from the world and go into their own mind (i.e. turn off the phone, put it away; unplug the tv; disconnect the internet) – it is a personal choice to stay in the stream. But I think being connected to the continuum might actually encourage creativity – when you can easily access information about everything, you do not need to waste time thinking of it yourself – you can spend your time trying to think beyond what is already out there.

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Margaret Hissa

May 10, 2012

I think you are equating boredom to free time, which some people would consider a luxury, (free time that is). Boredom quite often leads to mischieve, which in turn, sounds like you have free time to get into mischieve.

Boredom is not the same as being bored. For instance, on the week end I was doing some tedious tasks, and I got bored with them, so I decided to send an email, which turned out to be 3 to a friend/acquaintance/person I know, giving unsolicited suggestions/advice/opinions/ideas/comments, etc. just because I was bored, not out of boredom, as I was actually quite busy. I don’t think they were too welcomed. Then I thought, am I a close enough friend to do this, am I even a friend, or am I just an acquaintance, or just a person they know. I am thinking that sending an email might be too personal, whereas, posting a comment lets me have my say, but may never be read by anyone, including the intended recipient, but I still feel better for having my say, and overcoming my boredom with my tedious tasks.

Now my question is, not what boredom is, but what is a friend, who is a friend, how do you become a friend, anyone can become “a friend” on facebook, even someone you have never met, do you stay friends forever, if you become bored with your friends is it from boredom or lack of common interests, or no time for communicating, and so on and so on.

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Joe

May 9, 2012

Not so sure I would want to make a direct connection between boredom and the having of nothing to do –
I associate boredom more so with the level of personal engagement in an activity, or even lack of activity. In the modern workforce, multi tasking is a necessary condition of employment – but that alone does not guarantee full employee engagement and/or absence of boredom.

Social technology, in the end, has to be either one of two things to be successful: satisfying or addictive. If designed properly, it should be full of both qaulities 🙂

Reply
Grant Bykowy

May 9, 2012

I agree, and find that I often have to consciously shut out distractions in order to actually spend time thinking about something. I’m a runner, and its great to think about a certain thing or focus on a specific problem when I go out and run for 5 or 8k. In almost every case I come back with an idea or a solution.

Being able to focus the mind is an increasingly important skill. We live in a world of constant Unified Communication – where we can be reached at any time, by anybody. There are those that would like to bombard us with inputs — advertisers, marketers (disclosure: I am a marketer!) and get us to buy on impulse — without thinking.

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