My 2024 productivity secret

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This year, I’m focusing on being bored.

Like many of you, I have an addiction. To screens. Apparently, the average person spends 7 hours per day on screens. Sadly, that’s on the low side for me. Which can’t be good. My excuse is the search for more information. More opportunities to learn. More knowledge to share. But, honestly, it’s exhausting. And the truth is, I’ve been kidding myself:

It’s hindering my productivity, not helping it.

Over the Christmas break, I read Michael Easter’s thought-provoking book, The Comfort Crisis. It’s a true tale of a man pushing himself beyond his comfort zone by trekking through Alaska for a month. I’m now fully bought into the idea of cultivating discomfort. Not necessarily quitting regular life for extreme trips to far-flung places. At least, not yet.

No, my main takeaway was waking up to how I’m using my time.

Specifically, that I'm very rarely bored. Because there’s no reason to be. My phone contains distractions and entertainment whenever I ‘need’ it.

• Five minutes to ‘kill’ while waiting for the kids to finish swimming? Find an article to read that I could incorporate into my writing.
• Walking through the park on my way to a meeting? Find a show to listen to.
• Stacking the dishwasher for the third time today? Listen back to a podcast conversation I recorded last week.

Listen, listen, listen, Read, read, read. Learn, learn, learn.

No wonder I felt exhausted by the end of 2023. It’s relentless.

I’m not alone. As Easter writes in Comfort Crisis:

“Our collective lack of boredom may be causing us to reach near-crisis levels of mental fatigue. And undermaintained, overworked minds are linked to depression, life dissatisfaction, the perception that life goes by quicker, and increasingly missing the beauty of life that only presents itself when we allow our mind to wander and be aware of something other than a screen.”

This is one of those moments that reminds me why the original title of my podcast was Take My Advice (I’m Not Using It). I know the theory, but I don't always stick to it:

“Our brains essentially have two modes, focused and unfocused. Focused mode is a mind at attention. It's on when we're processing outside information, completing a task, checking our cellphone, watching TV, listening to a podcast, having a conversation, or anything else that requires us to attend to the outside world.

In other words, an unfocused mind isn’t an obstacle to productivity and creativity - it helps unlock them.

Being bored is uncomfortable. And constantly searching for something to distract me has become a bad habit. My comfort zone. That’s why my only goal for the year is to consume less and let my mind wander.

I’ll leave my phone downstairs when I go to bed. And my AirPods upstairs when I get up in the morning. I'll run device-free and go for a stroll without an accompanying podcast. Yes, I’ll continue my daily journaling practice. But now I’ll also follow legendary music producer Rick Rubin’s lead. His reflection time involves lying down and doing nothing. How hard can that be?

Steve Jobs once said:

"I'm a big believer in boredom. All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too."

Bring on the discomfort. Bring on the boredom.