Boredom has become surprisingly difficult to achieve. There was a time when waiting meant waiting. Now the smallest pause comes with an emergency exit: a screen containing everyone we know and an effectively bottomless supply of stimulation.
We solved the problem of having nothing to do. It is less obvious that this was entirely a victory.
Boredom is not automatically good for you. It can be unpleasant and demotivating. But it can also act as a signal that what you are doing is not sufficiently engaging, meaningful, or stimulating.
If every flicker of boredom is immediately anesthetized, we never have to ask what it is pointing toward.
Creative work often needs low-pressure mental space. The useful idea is not “be bored so you become a genius.” It is “do not eliminate every unstructured moment before your own mind has a chance to enter it.”
Sometimes “nothing is happening” is simply the moment before you notice what was already there.