Are You Bored? Well, You Should Be.

Are you bored?

Well, you should be.

And not in the “I already regret starting to read this article” sort of way, but because it is an oddly precious state of being, that is quite frankly dying.

Cast your mind back to the 90s for a moment, or perhaps the early 2000s. For those whose minds physically can’t, just search for “the good old days footage” on TikTok and you’ll get the gist.

Ironically, those images on your digital smartphone screen are of a more analogue existence. A land without on-demand entertainment, or reliable internet, or Instagram DMs, or quick Google searches, or Chat GPT to do our work for us. It was a land with floppy disks, dial-up connection tones, blockbuster movie stores, and picking up sticks on walks and bringing them home, just because, y’know… it was a “good stick”.

When you see the technological advancements stacked against their counterparts on paper, the clear “winner” is in the modern-tech corner. Everything is faster, more convenient, more accessible. And so we now have many reasons for why we should always keep technology close to us and as a very regular part of our daily existence. Whether it is for work, or for safety or for health reasons. There are some phenomenal use cases for tech, that didn’t exist all these years ago. Automatic insulin pumps for diabetes, emergency news pings and remote surgery over 5G signals. These examples almost undisputably make our world a better place to exist, and so we are connected like never before. However, here lies a problem; like the charger to your smartphone, we are connected like never before.

We are now incessantly just a quick glance at our black mirrors away from mini moments of escapism. And really, that is what that is, escapism. The dopamine hits from the town hall you levelled up, the mindless two hours you lost last night scrolling through dog memes, or the apparently endless notification stream that you tended to... Your everyday mind has a constant source of stimulation to flick to at any given time.

There was a term coined in 1997 by Weil and Rosen, known as ‘TechnoStress’. I know what you’re thinking: I’m sure I had tickets to that music festival last year. Really, it means “any negative impact on attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, or body physiology that is caused either directly or indirectly by technology”, and it is still a real problem for us.

And so as a byproduct of this connectivity, one thing that has been slowly dying a death for quite some time is the state of boredom. And while some might argue, what a great thing to have almost eradicated from our daily lives, I think being bored is incredibly important. It is a mental place to mull things over in silence, without distraction. It is a state that paradoxically works against itself.

Have you ever been so bored of being bored that it forces you to take action so that you’re no longer bored?

We need space in our heads for this to happen. We need time for contemplation, to introspect.

Falling into reverie has never felt more powerful. I would go as far as to say it is essential for a lot of things, especially if you’re creatively inclined. Quiet idleness and downtime can often be a breeding ground for epiphanies and great ideas. The story of Archimedes has stood the test of two millennia to illustrate this. And of course, we all know how imperative it is that we look after our precious headspace and mental health. Unplugging to recharge just makes sense. And yet we can be made to feel it is so counter-productive, having some breathing space from your overly-optimised productivity calendar app. There is a real hustle culture that makes “doing nothing” feel like it’s out of the question, indulgent even.

To play devil’s advocate, who’s to say a future where we all have computer chips, screens over our eyes, and have all of our needs met instantly in a virtual reality capacity isn’t the ultimate existence? After all, AI systems are designed to exponentially become more efficient and continually learn what you want or need. Surely this just means we are satisfied to a greater extent, more of the time? It certainly fits in with the narrative that my mum had of my Xbox, as a teenager, as less of a hobby and more of a life support machine.

Again, on paper, this almost reads like a win. In actuality, I can’t help but feel this futuristic image is completely dystopian.

I think we all need to fall in love with a more offline existence. And just like any rom-com has taught me while I’ve watched with my XL tubs of Ben & Jerry's, being in love can sometimes take a bit of work.

Some of the great pleasures in life can be characterised quite successfully by the fun of analogue modes. Take photography as an example. With film, you only get one shot, and so everything becomes more considered and appreciated. If you mess up, well that’s sort of part of it... sometimes the muck up is cool, or you learn something. It is also a tangible process. You can literally feel the mechanics of the camera turning in your hands as you press the shutter button. And of course, you can physically hold the roll of film and look at your negatives. There are beautiful nuances to these processes that you can’t experience with digital. Of course, digital photography is “optimal” in some sense but it takes a lot of that away, you can edit and take 12 photos of the same thing and it’s discarded in an album on your memory card, 5,000 images deep.

It is all a choice. One that many of us even fail to see a lot of the time. And so here is where some forgiveness comes in. Sometimes our use of our daily technologies is out of “free will”, but increasingly often, it’s as a result of conditioning. It's all quite literally designed this way. Hence the label “The Attention Economy”. To maximise the amount of attention you give to whatever device or screen is in front of you, for as long and as often as possible. This in turn is monetisable, and of course… money makes the world go around. Rinse and repeat.

I’m aware this all sounds awfully cynical, but I like to think there was never malicious intent when it came to introducing technology into our lives like this. It was an iterative process and before we knew it, it was omnipresent. There is a time and a place for us to be deliberate with our uses of it. For it to assist our realities, not to become them.

This does give me some optimism for the future. It just means we need to be careful and intentional with what we want from it.

Careful, because of famously true quotes like this:

Today’s science fiction, is tomorrow’s science fact - Isaac Asimov

Optimistic, because we might only be a few good sci-fi movies away from a more balanced existence, if we imagine it right.

Mr Asimov also spoke about autonomous cars, with “robot brains” in 1964.

*Tesla entered the chat*

Maybe Martin Scorcese writes the most famous piece of cinema "The Analogue Revolution", in 2025.

*happiness re-enters the chat*

When was the last time you unplugged yourself completely from the world? No phone whatsoever, no headphones, no smartwatch, no screen. Fully offline.

Just like the boredom paradox, working against itself, you can also make technology work against itself too. Set out days in your calendar to take a holiday from it or put alarms on your phone to take daily breaks. Unfortunately, it does take some conscious uncoupling from these little habits and routines we find ourselves in. However, according to neuroscience, it absolutely benefits your cognitive control, stress levels and executive functioning in the brain.

I implore you to intentionally spend some more time away from the digital realm. Discover the joy of writing a letter to your best friend. Pick up some art supplies and create some fun. Maybe even go on a walk, and who knows… maybe you’ll find a really good stick.

I would love to know what your thoughts are and what your relationship is like with tech. Does it benefit you more than it hinders you?

Let me know in the comments!