Why Boredom (without a phone) is Good For You

When you’re bored your brain wants to be busy. But nothing is happening.

So what’s the cheapest solution for that? Opening social media and scrolling. Small dopamine hits immediately make your brain happy.

But this is just short term.

As soon as you close the app, you’re back where you started. Should you just open the app again?

No! It‘s time to reflect on that! Boredom is good! It helps you to sort your thoughts, reflect on yourself, and maybe even come up with new ideas. Except from opening apps.

Challenge yourself and enjoy the boredom

Getting started can be quite hard, but the app one sec can help a lot to actively chose not to open apps, even though it is in your muscle memory to do so when you‘re bored.

“one sec” uses Shortcuts Automation to toggle a deep breath animation whenever you open one of the configured apps (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube…). This breaks unconscious social media habits and even helps long-term by adding more friction when opening these apps.

Don‘t kill Boredom with Apps

Every time you‘re waiting for something, you have a decision to make which seems like a tiny one: Pull our your phone for a few seconds or minutes – or just be bored and experience only your thoughts. It seems like an insignificant decision. And if you don‘t give it much thought the obvious action is to see what‘s new on your app of choice. And in making that decision you are alleviating a moment of boredom. But you are also likely making yourself less creative, less altruistic, less likely to assess your current state and less likely to set goals for your future. In short, you are the real world example of someone shocking themselves to avoid the unpleasantness of boredom. Except in your case, the pain goes much deeper to the very nature of who you are, and who you will become. So think carefully before pressing that button. – Veritasium

Frederik Riedel
February 9, 2022