Hi all,
I've been noticing a flaw in my thinking recently that I wanted to talk about today:
Now, finally writing that statement out, it sounds pretty ridiculous. I mean, for most people, boredom is terrible, and apparently, a significant chunk of people would rather be stimulated by painful electric shocks than be bored.
But I feel like healthy boredom is integral to having a creative, productive mind.
Back in the day (like two years ago), my dad used to tell me to, let myself be bored, and as a kid, I never really knew what he was talking about. Like, of course, I knew how to be bored: I was always bored on those 14-hour flights to China (before I got my phone) or anytime we talked to family friends I didn't know.
But now, I kind of get what he means. It's not that I have no idea how to be bored it's just that I don't have healthy outlets for curing my boredom.
That's pretty alarming, especially at a time when it's easier than ever to distract yourself from boredom in unproductive ways.
I want to be able to tap into my boredom as a resource. Like Neil Gaiman says, "You get ideas from being bored." I want to be like him. So, to clarify for my brain and yours:
- Boredom is healthy. It tells you when things aren't working out when things aren't interesting, and what tasks you probably should pivot away from.
- Sometimes, a class or task is never interesting, and you've got to put your foot down and say: "this isn't working for me."
- But we also need to be mindful of what we use to pivot away from our boredom.
- Austin Kleon has said that the things you do when you're bored are the things you should be doing for the rest of your life. So, while we're bored, let's try to do things we won't regret doing on our deathbeds.
So, let's stop pivoting away from being bored so fast and stop being so quick to take out our phones or to look up chess.com on the internet. Let's commit ourselves to making the subjects we're learning or the tasks we're doing interesting to our brains.
But how do we force things to be interesting? I think the best way to do it is to make things complicated:
- Think about edge cases. What does this formula mean in a geometrical sense? What is the author leaving out in his argument?
- Start solving problems: if I have to do this task every week, is there an aspect I can automate? What can I do for myself in that extra time?
And finally, let's try to focus on doing more of what we want to do.
- If I'm truly bored, can I start thinking of what kinds of YouTube videos I'd like to make in the future? Or, what professors do I want to start researching with?
- If I start focusing on my math lessons and making them interesting for myself, will I be able to divert some of my study time to my hobbies?
And hey, if it comes down to it, I might start staring at a wall for 15 minutes every day just to see what ideas my brain has got lurking there past my conscious mind.
(Pretty ridiculous, I know, but I was bored when thinking about it, so hey, it might mean something).
Anyways, that's what my brain spewed out today so, if you're still here, thanks for reading, and have a great week!
-Ethan
Things I'm Enjoying:
📚 Books - I've been finishing up How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens for the past couple of weeks, and I think it's a really good read. I'm trying to change my whole notetaking/idea generation system to accommodate the slip box system. I'm not sure how well it'll work for science and math because they are less creative subjects, but I'm hoping to make some new, interesting connections between the subjects.
👨💻 Tech - This is kind of an expensive pick, but my university has a 3D printer, and it's amazing how many random products you can create that would cost $5-20 on Amazon. So, if you have the means, I'd pick one up ($300-500) for like a decent printer.
💻 Website - printables.com - Kind of along with the tech pick, printables is one of the best places to get professional to semi-professional 3D models to print. I also like it because it can give insight into how to design products for consumers, albeit on a smaller scale.