INTHEBLACK July/August 2023 - Magazine - Page 54
“When we are bored, we become more
creative,” says Mann. “If you are not able
to satisfy the search for neural stimulation
externally, then you tend to go off into your
own mind and look for connections.”
This internal focus, or “daydreaming”, helps
the mind to wander and engage in imaginative
problem-solving, and it can help people to see
the world through a different lens, says Mann.
“When we are bored, we become more
creative. If you are not able to satisfy the
search for neural stimulation externally, then
you tend to go off into your own mind and
look for connections.”
DR SANDI MANN, PSYCHOLOGIST
“That is probably not a surprise, but we
eat more unhealthy things because we are
searching for that neural stimulation or that
reward from a chemical like dopamine.
“We need the right level of boredom in
our lives, that ‘sweet spot’ – not too little,
not too much,” Mann explains.
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article on how
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think creatively
54 INTHEBLACK July/August 2023
LINK TO CREATIVITY
Boredom is often viewed with caution in a
society preoccupied with productivity. When
being busy is worn like a badge of honour,
no one wants to admit to being bored.
A typical workday of back-to-back meetings
and never-ending to-do lists allows for little
downtime, but science has discovered a
surprising link between boredom and creativity.
In a 2014 study, Mann and her student
Rebekah Cadman asked participants to complete
a boring activity – copying phone numbers
out of the phone book – before undertaking a
creative task – coming up with as many uses for
two plastic cups as possible. The “boring” group
outperformed the control group, who were only
asked to complete the creative task.
JUNK FOOD FOR THE MIND
The smartphone has become the most obvious
and easily accessible antidote to boredom.
While boredom signals the need for
engagement, John Eastwood, associate
professor at York University, questions whether
a smartphone app is the place to find it.
While scrolling a social media feed provides
neural stimulation, it does not provide the
meaning humans crave. Instead, it creates
a cycle of “mental disengagement”, says
Eastwood in his book, Out of My Skull: The
Psychology of Boredom.
“A key challenge for us, in the face of
ever-present distraction, is to resist the allure of
quick and easy mental engagement – junk food
for the mind – that will ultimately fail to satisfy
and will cycle us back to being bored all over
again,” Eastwood writes.
“Instead, we need to seek true antidotes
to boredom that will satisfy our need to be
mentally engaged.”
WHAT ORGANISATIONS CAN DO
Mann says organisations can benefit from
a creativity boost by allowing more boredom
into the workplace.
However, embracing boredom in the
workplace does not mean painting the walls
beige and banishing the office foosball table.
Instead, companies could build downtime
into the workday by implementing shorter
meeting times and encouraging staff to take
regular breaks from their desks.
Some organisations have introduced an
“anti-power hour”, an hour-long block where
employees are not expected to be productive.
Timing is important when encouraging
boredom at work. A strategy such as job rotation
can prevent boredom when an employee, such
as a train driver, needs to be alert, says Mann.
Chevez also encourages individuals to
be more open to sitting with their boredom
when the feeling arises, rather than reaching
for a smartphone.
On the next commute to work, or when
standing in a queue, “avoid the temptation
to jump into TikTok or Instagram or Duolingo,”
Chevez says, “and see what happens”.
