Creative boredom

The bedrock of entrepreneurship and innovation is creativity. Experts, pundits, and coaches alike have bombarded us with their tips and techniques, but sometimes we just try too hard.

For example, here are three common fallacies that might be getting in the way — and how to avoid them.

• The productivity fallacy: There’s a misperception that equates innovation with decision-making speed. Sometimes, the best ideas require long incubation periods. Resisting the temptation to come to fast conclusions can lead to more creative and far-reaching solutions to complex problems.
• The intelligence fallacy: Creative thinking is cognitively demanding. Pay close attention to how innovative ideas are shared and discussed on your team. Encourage them to build on each other’s ideas rather than poking holes in them. This doesn’t mean saying “yes” to flawed ideas; instead, approach them with an open mind to acknowledge what’s useful and improve weaknesses.
• The brainstorming fallacy: While group brainstorming feels more productive because of the social effects, research has found that nominal brainstorming (where individuals think on their own before sharing ideas) consistently outperforms traditional group brainstorming. So, start your team brainstorming with a few minutes of silence for people to ideate independently before returning to the group.

The truth is that there are essential benefits to people and businesses when organizations embrace the value of “wasting time.” As it turns out, people are not equipped to work 16-hour days or even, perhaps, eight- or 10-hour days while maintaining high productivity and consistent quality. The human brain can focus, but only for short periods. In between those focused sessions, people should be encouraged to waste a little time.

How about boredom as a solution? Or hanging out: It’s a loose social dynamic in which people spend unstructured time together with no set agenda.?

While boredom can be an unpleasant feeling, it can also be an opportunity to reflect on your interests, values, and goals. By recognizing the type of boredom you’re experiencing and identifying the underlying causes, you can take steps to address them and find new ways to engage with the world around you. Working with your boredom can also help you develop creativity, resilience, and the ability to adapt to new situations. So rather than trying to avoid or ignore your boredom, consider working with it as a valuable tool for personal growth and a way to lead a more fulfilling life. Based on the body of research exploring this emotion, the authors highlight some of boredom’s benefits and detriments and offer insights into how you might harness the best of boredom.

When George Shultz —?who died at 100 ?— was secretary of state under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, he developed a weekly ritual. He closed the door to his office and sat down with a pen and a pad of paper. For the next hour, Shultz tried to clear his mind and think about big ideas, rather than the minutiae of government work

Many of us have forgotten (or even fear) quiet. We live in a world full of noise and chatter. A world wherein our daily routines are inundated with distractions and responsibilities. This practice, called the Sphere of Silence, is a 60-minute routine that can help you stay grounded, focused, and most importantly, remain hopeful when your mind wants to spiral. There is one ground rule: Follow the below steps in complete silence.

• The first half hour is broken down in three 10-minute segments. Spend the first 10 minutes writing your short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. Then, dedicate the next 10-minute set to assessing your progress on the goals you set the previous day.
• Use the final 10 minutes to take note of any unmet goals and assess the reasons why you have not achieved them.?This will motivate you to focus on moving forward.
• ?Spend the next 20 minutes reading a book, something that teaches you new things or enriches your mind with practical knowledge.
• Spend the first 10 minutes of this step reading a chapter of your book. Then, use the remaining 10 minutes to write down a summary of what you just read by hand to strengthen your ability to process the information, and learn something new.
• Use these last 10 minutes for self-reflection and, if you believe in a higher power, for communicating with God, the Universe, your spirituality, or whatever you prefer.?This part of the practice allows you to harness your calm during stressful situations and mindfully choose to stay out of negativity.

It turns out boredom can foster creativity. But not just any kind of boredom. You must practice three or 5 types of boredom.

1. Indifferent boredom: Like daydreaming during a neuroanatomy lecture.

2. Calibrated boredom: Let's see. What should I do today?

3. Searching boredom: You know, I've lived in this city for 15 years and have never taken the time to explore it.

In addition, there are two other types of boredom.

4.?Reactant boredom feels negative. Imagine a dinner where one blowhard monopolizes the evening by talking about him or herself. You might become extremely annoyed, aggressive, largely because the opportunity cost is so great. This person is wasting your time.

5.?Apathetic boredom is a state of what psychologists call learned helplessness. You feel hopeless, this dinner will never end, there is no motivation to change the situation. This type of boredom is closely related to depression.

Some think boredom might be good for your relationship.

Be careful when it comes to toxic boredom like reactant boredom situations where you are forced to do the same boring things repeatedly that just annoy you, and apathetic boredom that indicates helplessness and depression. Nothing creative usually results out of those situations.

Retreating to solitude has been recommended by none other than Aristotle, Montaigne, Cicero, Seneca, and Thoreau, so why fight it and instead, stop looking for those creative juices in all the wrong places.

Here's the latest case for digital detoxing.

It turns out that brainstorming doesn't really work . Go figure. Maybe if we just bore people to death at work during mandatory lectures, meetings, and strategic planning retreats it would stimulate their creativity. That couldn't be so hard, could it?

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack