Being bored is actually a good thing: Harvard Professor Arthur Charles Brooks
Be honest—when was the last time you were really bored? Not scrolling TikTok while waiting for your Grab order, not half-watching Netflix with your phone in hand, but actually sitting there with nothing to do.
Chances are, you can’t remember. And you’re not alone. These days, many of us would rather pretend to look busy on our phones than risk being seen doing… well, nothing.
But here’s the question: should we allow ourselves to be idle once in a while?
According to Professor Arthur Charles Brooks from Harvard—author of the book The Happiness Files—the answer is a big yes.
Speaking to the Harvard Business Review, he explains that when humans are bored, parts of the brain called the default mode network switches on. That’s the system that lets your mind wander, reflect, and most importantly, stumble into your most interesting ideas.
Except the brain doesn’t enjoy being in default mode. In fact, we’re so uncomfortable with it, we’d rather give ourselves electric shocks than endure it.
Brooks’ colleague, Professor Daniel Todd Gilbert, once did an experiment where people had to sit in a room for just 15 minutes with nothing to do. The only option was a button on the table. Push it, and you’d get a painful electric shock.
Rather surprisingly, the majority of participants chose the shock over sitting quietly with their own thoughts.
And it makes sense.
When boredom kicks in, our brains often throw up the big, uncomfortable questions—about meaning, mortality, and purpose. What’s the point of my job? Am I living the life I want? What actually matters to me? The advent of smartphones has given us a way out—we can scroll, swipe, and distract ourselves so we don’t have to face those big, messy thoughts that make us uncomfortable.
But this constant distraction comes at a cost. Brooks argues that avoiding boredom exacerbates today’s epidemic of anxiety and depression as it dooms us in a loop where our thoughts linger statically instead of undergoing deeper analysis. Without moments of stillness, we never reflect on life’s bigger picture and perpetuate our sense of hollowness.
Here’s the irony: the more comfortable you get with boredom, the less bored you’ll feel with your relationships and the things going on around you. Those quiet moments are where your brain connects the dots, sparks creativity, and nudges you toward deeper meaning.
Think about it: how many of your best ideas have shown up while you were zoning out in the shower or stuck in traffic?
As Brook puts it: “You’ll start digging into the biggest questions in your life—purpose, meaning, coherence, and significance. And who knows? You might just get happier.”
So how do you practice this “art of boredom”? Brooks has his own rules:
- No screen time after 7 p.m.
- No devices at the dinner table
- Regular “screen cleanses” where he avoids social media for days at a time
- No phone in the bedroom
You don’t even have to go off the grid to try this. Start small. Leave your phone in your bag during lunch. Take a walk without music or a podcast. Wait at a traffic light without pulling out your phone. Once you’re more comfortable, try letting only one or two emergency contacts bypass your focus mode. You’ll stay reachable without falling into the scroll trap.
Because here’s the truth: boredom isn’t wasted time. It’s the space where creativity, meaning, and that unexpected solution sneak in, but only if you give them the space to.
So the next time you’re tempted to unlock your phone for the hundredth time today, don’t. Sit with it. Be bored. You might be surprised at what shows up.
- Watch the full video of Harvard Business Review with Professor Arthur C. Brooks here.
- Read more stories we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
