Module 2 · Attention & digital life · Emerging evidence

Boredom is not an emergency

Why the urge to fill every empty minute costs more than it seems, and what boredom is good for.

6 min read · Level: Practising · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Boredom is the uncomfortable feeling of wanting to be engaged and not being. For most of history it was simply part of life — waiting, walking, queueing. Now almost every empty moment can be filled instantly, so many people have lost practice at tolerating it.

That matters because the urge to escape boredom drives a lot of checking. In one well-known study, many participants preferred giving themselves a mild electric shock to sitting alone with their thoughts for fifteen minutes. The discomfort is real — but it passes, and it can be useful.

Boredom is a signal that you want something more meaningful or engaging. Some studies suggest it can also give the mind room to wander, which is linked with creativity and planning. Sitting with it for a few minutes, rather than filling it immediately, is a skill that grows with practice.

Why it works

If every flicker of boredom sends you to your phone, you give a lot of your attention away without choosing to. Being able to stay with a quiet minute gives you back that choice.

A real example

The situation

Waiting for a bus, Omar reaches for his phone without thinking — as he does in every queue, lift and pause, dozens of times a day.

What happened

He decides to leave it in his pocket at bus stops for a week. The first days feel restless. By the end of the week he notices that some of his best ideas for his project arrive while he is just standing there.

The takeaway

An empty minute isn’t wasted — it can be where your own thoughts get a turn.

Use this when you are…

• you reach for your phone in every pause
• you feel restless whenever nothing is happening
• you want more space for your own thinking

Common mistakes

• Treating boredom as an emergency that must be fixed immediately.
• Filling every quiet moment and then wondering why you never have time to think.
• Expecting to enjoy boredom. The aim is to tolerate it, not love it.

What the evidence says

Emerging evidence: Early or mixed research looks promising, but it is too soon to be confident. Treat it as worth trying, not proven.

Research on boredom is growing: studies show how uncomfortable people find unfilled time, and some find links between mind-wandering and creativity. The evidence that practising boredom tolerance improves wellbeing is still early.

Where this comes from: Attention and task-switching research; Research on digital media and wellbeing.

Fields that study this: Clinical psychology, Behavioural science.

Try it now: Three quiet minutes

1. Put your phone out of reach.
2. Sit or stand for three minutes with nothing to do.
3. Notice the urge to fill the time — and just watch it rise and fall.

Practise with a guided technique

• Urge surfing — (3–5 min · Emerging evidence)
• Mindful attention to the breath — (5–10 min · Moderate evidence)

Questions to think about

• Which pauses in your day do you fill automatically?
• What might your mind do with a few unfilled minutes?

Try this today

Leave one ordinary pause today — a queue, a lift, a kettle boiling — completely unfilled.

Afterwards, ask yourself

What did you notice when you let a quiet moment stay quiet?

Words in this lesson

• Attention — The mind’s spotlight: the limited capacity to focus on some things while filtering out others.
• Urge surfing — Noticing an urge — to check your phone, snack or smoke — and riding it like a wave as it rises, peaks and falls, without acting on it.