The Value of Boredom in a Hyperconnected World
These days, it seems that boredom is often viewed as a flaw to be corrected rather than a state to be accepted. With smartphones always in hand, every idle moment is filled with news, notifications, and endless streams of content. Yet as the Harvard Business Review video You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why (embedded below) makes clear, boredom is not an inconvenience. It is essential for cultivating meaning, purpose, and happiness. I came across this video and then in talking to one of my children, I thought it would be a good thing to write about.
The science is compelling. When we are bored, our brain activates the “default mode network,” a system linked to introspection and deeper thinking. Left undistracted, our minds turn toward larger questions about who we are and what matters most. The difficulty is that we instinctively resist this process. Studies cited in the video reveal that many people would rather shock themselves with electricity than be left alone with their thoughts. This avoidance is understandable. Boredom often confronts us with uncomfortable truths. But our constant escape into phones creates what the speaker calls a “doom loop of meaning.” We avoid the discomfort, but in doing so we also avoid the clarity and purpose that emerge from it. The result is rising anxiety, restlessness, and an undercurrent of dissatisfaction.
The video offers practical strategies for breaking free from this cycle. Choose moments where boredom can take root, such as exercising without headphones or commuting without distraction. Create boundaries, like a no-device policy after dinner, keeping phones out of the bedroom, or taking regular social media breaks. These small disciplines provide space for the mind to reset and rediscover meaning. They also remind us that happiness is often found not in constant stimulation but in our ability to sit with ourselves and think.
My Practice: Reflection and Daily Journaling
What struck me most from the video is how closely this argument aligns with my own practice of reflection and journaling. Writing each day is, in many ways, an intentional act of boredom. It slows me down, removes distractions, and creates space for the kinds of questions the default mode network is designed to surface.
Over time, journaling has become more than recording events. It is where I trace patterns, capture insights, and confront the issues that might otherwise be buried beneath the noise of a busy day. The discomfort of stillness often gives way to clarity. Ideas for strategy, shifts in perspective, and renewed focus often emerge in the quiet minutes I spend with pen and page.
The larger lesson from both the research and my experience is clear. Boredom is not wasted time. It is the soil in which meaning grows. By resisting the urge to fill every gap with distraction and by embracing practices like journaling, we reclaim the ability to reflect, to choose, and to lead lives with greater purpose.
The video below is worth watching. It not only highlights the value of boredom but also offers practical steps for making room for it. Paired with a simple reflective practice, it can be a powerful way to step out of the doom loop and into a more thoughtful life.