Shutdown Food for Thought: Boredom is Not a Disease

I'm not sure if anyone even reads this any more since I have so neglected it for way too long, but I have set a goal to send a blog-post-style email to the teachers and staff at my school each morning.  Being that these emails read like a blog post, I decided I should post them here as well.  If anyone is still out there, here comes a daily "Shutdown Food for Thought" while we're all social-distancing.

So I thought I would set a goal for myself to stay in touch each day with an email each morning with some things to think about as we go through this weird experience.  I hope I'm not just spamming your inboxes, but rather I look forward to the discussion that my opinions and outlook sparks.  Feel free to read, reply, argue, discuss, etc.

As my own family was coming to terms with the prospect of 3+ weeks at home together with no school and working remotely, my wife and I (just like many of our parents) were discussing what we are going to do to keep our kids busy, engaged, inspired to learn, sane, etc. all while not getting to the point that they are ripping each others' faces off, my brain immediately went to a Podcast I listened to a few years ago with Manoush Zomorodi about the importance of being bored for our brain's creative function.  Maybe it was partially inspired by the fact that she was just recently the opening keynote speaker at the MACUL conference, but it seemed pretty applicable to our current situation.  I made my 8 year old son listen to it in the car on the way to and from the grocery, and he immediately said, "I think Grace (our daughter) should listen to that too."   The episode is linked below to a few popular podcast platforms.  You can also play it through any web browser.  I would encourage you to carve out 43 minutes, and give it a listen.

Zomorodi talks about her work showing how important moments of boredom are for our creative brain and the way mobile phones have taken that away from us and made us very uncomfortable with the thought of being bored.  She then talks a lot about the importance of learning some self regulation of our time and connection to our phones, and how the right response isn't an "all or nothing" answer but rather a gray area compromise somewhere in the middle.  I made some adjustments to my own behavior (fine-tuning notifications, app timers, etc.) after listening to this episode a few years ago, and it was a great adjustment for me personally.  I wanted my kids to listen as well (it is a kid friendly episode if you would like to do the same) so that I could remind them of it when I hear the phrase that I know is coming... "I'm boooored."  New standard response will be to remind them that being bored is really good for your brain, so it's ok.  

If anything, at the beginning of this time away from school and work, look for opportunities to slow down a bit, allow your brain to wander, and examine some ways to develop a better relationship with your cell phone.

If you feel so inclined, feel free to share this story/message along to your students and/or parents of your students and encourage them to embrace a little bit of boredom back into our lives.  This could also be a great discussion starter as we investigate ways to introduce our students to thoughts about their digital well-being.

Podcast #342: Why Boredom is Good for You | The Art of Manliness (This link also includes a transcript of the episode if you'd rather read it than listen to it)

• Episode on Spotify
• Episode on Google Podcasts
• Episode on Apple Podcasts

If this topic inspires you to learn more, Zomorodi's book, "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self" is available on Amazon for less than $10.