Embracing boredom is a balm for our anxious times. Plus, the wellbeing and productivity benefits of letting your mind wander are manifold.

By Xische Editorial, April 6, 2020

Another week in the grand experiment of remote work. How have you been holding up? Have you maintained productivity levels or do you find those afternoon dips lasting longer and longer? Given the extraordinary events happening all around us, it's critical to focus on mental health during this period. We’ve been thinking about surefire steps you can take to keep your mental health on track. It all starts with unplugging. 

To understand the awesome power of technology, we need to step away from it occasionally. That means willingly entering into the analog world. Whether it’s reading a book or writing a letter by hand, the analog world is a place of focus, reflection, and even boredom. Given the constant stream of news, a little boredom might be a good thing, don’t you think? 

In her delightful book, Bored and Brilliant: How Space Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self, the journalist Manoush Zomorodi invites us to open our minds through boredom. “Boredom is the gateway to mind-wandering,” she notes, “which helps our brains create those new connections that can solve anything from planning dinner to a breakthrough in combating global warming.” 

Since we have all moved indoors and now rely on our devices more than ever to connect, it’s easy to blame the internet for dips in our mental health. The fault doesn’t lie entirely with the smartphone though. Yes, those compelling devices are designed to grab and hold our attention, but we have agency in asserting our right to be bored. Think of it as a grand mental health challenge perfect for these days of quarantine. With the uncertainty and stress of our current moment, it’s all the more important to refocus our collective attention on individual mental health. 

“When our minds wander,” Zomorodi reminds us, “we activate something called the “default mode,” the mental place where we solve problems and generate our best ideas, and engage in what’s known as “autobiographical planning,” which is how we make sense of our world and our lives and set future goals.”

For the past two weeks, Xische has been sharing tips for remote work drawn from years of experience. An empathic workplace can help ease the psychological burden of remote work, and entering the analog is a great way to hit the restart button. Above all else, don’t forget about yourself during these challenging times.

In the past, we have explored our love of serendipitous experiences that libraries and bookshops create. Letting the mind wander through boredom or a lazy afternoon in a bookshop can be a wellspring for fresh ideas and perspectives. Obviously such physical experiences will have to wait until after this crisis passes but the principles can be replicated at home. By simply putting down your phone and focusing on yourself for ten minutes, we can refresh our minds in a dramatic fashion. 

Here are a couple of other tips that help our team members stay productive and engaged. Keep plans short term. Plan for today and the next few days so you don’t burden yourself more than necessary. Exercise. Even seven minutes a day will greatly improve your mental attitude. Breathe. A five-minute breathing exercise can improve focus for hours. Treat yourself. It’s okay to have an extra cookie or sweet. And last but not least, connect with others by any means necessary.

As much as this time is a burden, it can be understood as an opportunity. Under these difficult circumstances, we can refine our mental health systems. We can rediscover the joy of boredom, if only for half an hour per day. We can start building a path to better health. Above all else, we need to not forget about ourselves. In doing so, we can rediscover who we are while redefining our relationship with technology.