Why? Because we do not do boredom very well.<\/strong>
In my opinion we can learn a lot about ourselves, our relationship to the digital illusion, and this thing called life by embracing boredom. Let’s talk about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where Did We Come From?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s we had a very different relationship with boredom. We usually just hit the streets and rang the doorbells to see who else was Free<\/em>. Calling someone who lived further away was a luxury we didn’t get often. Sometimes we had enough for a game of streetball, sometimes just enough for a little roaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Distinctly I remember once finding no-one else to come out and coming back to the driveway of the house I grew up in. There was a long (in my childhood eyes a mile long) water hose laying there. I got some golf balls out of the house and spent hours folding it together so it was next to itself. Then i laid it out twisting and turning down the driveway. The effect being that you put a ball at the top and it would roll on top of the hose, turning and gaining speed until it reached the circle at the bottom. No, I never did become an engineer, but it was great fun to make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 80’s we got a little more distraction into our lives with HBO and MTV. Yet still, we spent much more time doing things like meeting up with friends, grilling and partying. I can recall no times of boredom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nokia 1011 (type NHE-2XN) is recognized as the first mass-produced GSM (2G) digital mobile phone, launched on November 10, 1992. Then everything started happening really fast.<\/em> For almost all the many people I\u2019ve known or observed over the last few decades I would call them a digital slave. Including yours truly. We cannot sit still for more than 15 minutes without pulling our phones out. Our number one solution for boredom today is our phone, television, tablet, laptop.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n And it all happened so fast. The problem with this; we are missing out on all the life happening all around us every single day. Added to this we spend a lot of our time with advertisers trying to lure us into the next shiny new thing that we can’t live without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Believe me, I know from experience that sitting or walking somewhere accepting no electronic distractions is not an easy task.<\/strong> The cost of learning to become a minimalist as far as your digital life goes is high. So let’s get friendly with Boredom and learn to understand that it is good for us. It leads us into the real world and the one life we have. Thank you for reading \/ listening.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aj-sc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Golf-Hose-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThen 1992 came around.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
That was truly a revolution because not long after that we could call and text each other without a pocket full of change. (well, if you could afford it back then)
Palm Pilot was the next big thing. No more leather bound books for appointments, contacts, notes and tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We loved it and the companies noticed. They may have continued without our loving it but let’s tie it all together with consumerism for now. So who wanted the smart phone we have glued to our hands today?
We sure did!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhere Are We?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The worst things I’ve seen, shopping or in some waiting area, are Mom’s and Dad’s inside their phones and the children (5 – 8 years old) stuck inside their own phones as well. Then there’s a group of 10 people at work, sitting in one space, all busy with phones.
Not only do we not use the time for small talk, or a decent conversation, but we cannot bear the thought of being bored. The thought of looking at the room, the landscape or the park where one sits is obviously unbearable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
And it’s still happening faster every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat are we willing to change?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Whether social media, gaming or podcasts I’ve been there, done that. It saddens me to think of how much of life I missed out on. Which is why we are talking about this here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suggest these three things to ease yourself into learning slowly what you are willing to change…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Without the TV or Radio running put down your phone for 15, 30 or 60 minutes without picking it back up again. See what it feels like, can you feel the desire or urge to pick it up? It can be very discomforting. I compare it to the cold turkey method of quitting cigarettes.
If it is uncomfortable for you this is a sign of addiction and you can decide to do this more often. You have many possible healthy distractions you can use to redirect the energy; Get up and dance, do fitness for your body. Sit outside and see, hear, smell and feel the real world. Clean out that drawer that you always wanted to, you may find interesting lost stuff that you’ve searched for many times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
In a waiting space it’s always interesting to really see people living their lives. Of course you don’t want to stare at a single person,<\/em> but you know what I mean.
See how many people are just swiping their phones. See people that are obviously together all staring at their phones.
And, see the opposite; people talking laughing and enjoying the wait. If you happen to be outside there is of course a multitude more to observe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Once you’ve noticed that you are willing to change your relationship with boredom you can simply start expanding your time spent without digital distractions. This is no different than any life change you want, Start small. (15 minutes) When you see what is doable for you after a week or so, up the ante to 30 minutes a day.
In my experience if you start small and give it enough time to become important to you, and then expand the time you spend daily, you can learn almost anything.
Even writing or playing an instrument.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Turn off all digital for 24 hours.
Too much? How about midnight until noon?
This is when your mind starts screaming at you “You can’t live without your phone because…”<\/strong>
Good, examine every reason why you cannot. Are you that important that you must be reachable 24 hours a day?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nWrap it up in a bow.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sit around and do nothing at all for a while. You might be surprised how good it feels.\ud83d\ude01<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~A.J~<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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