Introduction#
In the modern age we can get overwhelmed with so much information. In this post I try to explain the concept of increasing productivity through “boredom”.
The problem ?#
I think the reason this is more relevant in our lifetime compared to past generations is the availability of stimuli. If you want to spend hours scrolling through social media, all you have to do is pick up your phone.
The availability of tasks we can use to procrastinate keeps increasing.
Is this important ?#
Our lives are full of stimulation and we try to race to the next “fun” thing. Count the times you have sat doing nothing, and without thinking pick up your phone.
By having so much stimuli we neglect boring but important tasks
Example 1: I find playing games more stimulating compared to cleaning and organising my space. If I removed games from my life then cleaning would become fun. My brain would find it more interesting than doing nothing.
Example 2: Walking into a room with a book and a phone, almost instinctively we will go for the phone. Walk into a room with only books this changes. Maybe not straight away but you will pick up a book and start reading.
What can we do ?#
Remove over stimulating activities or “fun” activities to free up brain space and force yourself to find enjoyment in completing tasks you would consider mundane.
By forcing ourselves into boredom, our brain finds tasks to keep itself busy.
Anything can be fun when you have nothing else to do
HOW ?#
This will require discipline
Structure your life.
- Write down all the tasks in your day (Including the fun ones)
- Rank each task by how stimulating it is (“fun”)
- Also write down how important each task is
Look at the tasks that sit at the top of the list, these should be the tasks you consider to be the most fun. Look at how important it is and consider getting rid of it.
Another way you could do this if you are struggling is order the list by how important the task is. Then look at the tasks at the bottom of the list and see what you can remove.
Conclusion#
Restructuring your life like this will require discipline and commitment. You need to know why you are doing this, set a goal and keep it in mind.
Remember that time you decided to take a few days off your gym routine to do something else and those few days turned into weeks then months – I do – And you think about the progress you could have made in all that time.