INTHEBLACK July/August 2023 - Magazine - Page 52
WORK SMART
The upside
of boredom
In a work environment that increasingly
prioritises productivity, boredom during
the workday is often viewed as a problem.
Yet it has long been established that
creative thinking happens when people
are at their most relaxed.
Words Nicola Heath
52 INTHEBLACK July/August 2023
Dr Agustin Chevez, adjunct research fellow
at Swinburne University’s Centre for Design
Innovation, knows a thing or two about boredom.
In 2018, Chevez set out on a journey
from Melbourne to Sydney, not by plane,
train or car – but on foot.
The 905-kilometre walk from Federation
Square in Melbourne to the Sydney
Opera House took him 42 days.
Chevez calls it a modern-day
pilgrimage, with the goal of exploring
the relationship between distraction,
isolation and the incubation of ideas.
Two rules governed Chevez’s trip – he had
to be alone, and he had to avoid distraction.
As he explains in his book, The Pilgrim’s
Guide to the Workplace, this meant “no
music or podcasts, no books or anything
that might help to pass the time. This
rule helped to ensure the pilgrimage
remained focused and not a holiday”.
Three days into his experiment, Chevez
hit a snag. “I was bored beyond belief,” he says.
As he resisted the temptation to give in
to his craving for diversion, Chevez began
to notice a change in his thinking.
