Boredom can benefit college students in many ways
Ceilidh Adams
Opinion Editor
“I’m so bored!” This is a phrase that is ubiquitous in our society–little kids say it all of the time.
In the age of Smartphones, Snapchat, and Candy Crush, the attention span of our society has diminished significantly. This means that boredom is avoided like the plague.
How many times have you seen someone daydreaming today? How many people have you seen today that were alone (especially eating alone), that didn’t have his/her cell phone with them?
These are the many ways in which we like to avoid boredom. Our generation just has to be entertained 24/7, always.
One day, as I was listening to a podcast (as I do), I heard about an interesting phenomenon: that bored feeling, that thing that we avoid so much, can be a good thing.
When I first heard this, I thought, this cannot be real. Like most of us, I hate being bored. Nothing good has ever come out of being bored, right?
Actually, research shows that boredom can have some benefits; research done by the British Psychological Association has shown that boredom at work can make us more creative.
The link between daydreaming (this is an activity that people do when they are bored) and creativity is clear. Basically, we are using the same parts of our brain and processes in our brain when we are daydreaming as we are when we are completing creative tasks.
Boredom can also help you to unplug from the technology around you. Maybe you are bored because you have run out of Snapchat stories to look at, or Candy Crush levels to complete.
Unplugging from technology and avoiding that cell phone addiction can be beneficial in many different ways–mostly, you will learn to experience the real world around you when you are unplugged.
In another study conducted by a research team at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that participants who were bored outperformed others on a test, where the other participants were relaxed or stressed.
Personally, I love daydreaming. It is the state in which I am the most creative, and the most natural. When I’m bored, I write, I doodle, I think. Boredom allows me to erase the thoughts in my mind, and to leave my mind a blank slate, and that is a wonderful thing.
So, the next time that you are sitting in class, or eating by yourself, bored, do not pull out your cell phone. Instead, think. Allow yourself to be bored. This feeling will allow you to be your best, creative self, and who knows, you just might think of something that could change this world. “It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”- Marilyn Monroe
Ceilidh Adams is the Opinion Editor for The Comment. Email her at c3adams@student.bridgew.edu
