When was the last time you were truly bored? Not “waiting-in-line bored” while scrolling your phone. I mean the kind of boredom that presses in — the quiet, uncomfortable pause where there’s nothing to do but think, feel, or simply be. As a child, some of my most creative ideas sparked in moments of deep boredom.
We’ve been taught to treat boredom like an enemy. We fill every silence with noise, every gap with content, and every pause with productivity. Perhaps you or someone you know is not comfortable with silence and keeps talking to fill lulls in a conversation. But what if boredom isn’t a problem to fix? What if it’s a spiritual discipline we’ve forgotten how to practice?
What Boredom Really Is
Boredom is the space between stimulus and response. It’s the moment your mind reaches for the next task or distraction and finds none. It’s uncomfortable because it exposes how dependent we’ve become on external stimuli and noise. But when allowed, in that quiet gap, something amazing can happen.
Learning to Be Still
Stillness doesn’t come naturally in a world that celebrates speed, progression, productivity, and consumption. I’ve met some people who feel downright guilty when they are not doing something, even on their day off from work. To be still is to admit you’re not in control and that life will keep moving even if you don’t.
When we are distracted, watching a movie or playing a video game, we may not think about how the world and life are still moving despite our influence or action. But when we stop of our own will, everything can look different. You may remember that your worth isn’t tied to output. You begin to see how your mind races to avoid silence. That’s you scrambling for control.
Allowing Boredom vs. Welcoming Boredom
Allowing boredom is like tolerating a cold shower; it’s uncomfortable, but survivable. Welcoming boredom is different. It’s scheduling nothingness on purpose. It’s sitting somewhere comfortable without your phone and letting your thoughts wander without guilt. Now that I think of it, boredom is like a mini-vacation that you can take almost any time.
When you welcome boredom, you stop running from it. You treat it as a friend who knows something you don’t. Boredom is the space in which we can develop the spiritual discipline of being still.
Make Time for Boredom
Try this: once or twice a week, leave an hour unscripted. No screens, no agenda, no “catching up.” Just sit, walk, or watch the world. I promise it’s completely allowed. At first, it’ll feel strange, even wasteful. But soon you’ll notice something happening: your creativity wakes up. Your mind starts to wander toward ideas, connections, and memories that were buried beneath busyness.
There are times after the work day or at random on a weekend afternoon when I will lie down on my bed and listen to a soundscape. It can take me up to twenty minutes to allow my mind to let go, but when it does, it’s wonderful. I allow my mind to wander, my brain to process, and my body to enjoy the comfort.
Boredom as a Tool of Creativity
Every creator knows this truth: inspiration rarely arrives when you’re distracted. The mind needs stillness to focus. It’s in the unhurried, unoccupied moments that your best ideas surface, not when you’re chasing them, but when you’ve finally stopped running. When I was a child, I would find myself bored in my bedroom. Despite having a TV and a game console, I was done with those things, and I was simply bored. I would pace the room, looking at my stuff, pawing through my drawers as I looked for something to amuse me. Ninety percent of the time, I would discover some forgotten artifact that would spark my imagination and start my creative juices flowing.
Today, I lie on my bed with my eyes closed and a soundscape (or nothing) in my ears. Sometimes, I pick up my journal and just write words about anything at all. Some of my best work ideas have come from this blank space where I allow my mind to breathe.
The Discipline of Doing Nothing
So don’t feel guilty for being bored. Don’t rush to fill the silence, but rather sit with it and let it shape you. Because in learning to be bored, you’re really learning to be present — and presence is the beginning of both creativity and peace. If you feel really guilty and cannot seem to fathom being still just for the sake of being still, look at it another way.
Being or allowing boredom is a worthy discipline to learn. When you can allow it, then later embrace it, and ultimately seek it, you are in control over your mind. You will then be able to choose to let yourself be bored and your mind to be free. That is why this is a spiritual discipline, because it happens within. So, learn to do nothing, be still, and allow your mind to breathe.
Perhaps this weekend is a great time to be bored or at least not attached to a screen. Why not challenge yourself with an Analog Weekend and see how great you feel after a 48 hour reset!