Guide
Is boredom good for you?
The phone has nearly abolished boredom: the queue, the lift, the bus stop, all filled in a second. Is anything lost? Two well-known studies suggest something might be.
In short. In 11 studies, people did not enjoy spending 6 to 15 minutes alone with their thoughts, and many chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than sit with nothing to do. In two other studies, people who first did something boring were more creative afterwards, perhaps because a bored mind wanders. The evidence is limited, but it suggests that the empty minutes the phone fills are not all wasted.
We would rather do anything
Timothy Wilson and colleagues asked people to sit alone in a room for 6 to 15 minutes with nothing to do but think. Across 11 studies, published in Science in 2014, most did not enjoy it. They enjoyed simple, mundane activities much more. And when given the option, many chose to give themselves an electric shock rather than stay alone with their thoughts.
The finding drew debate: a commentary titled “Is thinking really aversive?” questioned how far it reaches. But it fits what everyone knows from the bus stop. Given a free minute and a phone, almost nobody just waits.
Boredom and new ideas
Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman ran two studies with 80 and 90 people. Some first did a boring writing or reading task; others did not. Then everyone tried a creative task. The bored groups came up with more creative ideas, and a boring reading task helped more than a boring writing task in some cases. The authors point to daydreaming as the link: a mind with nothing to hold on to starts to wander, and wandering finds things.
These were small lab studies with creativity measured right afterwards, so they show a possibility, not a rule. They sit well beside another finding, that ideas come on walks.
What the phone does to an empty minute
It fills it, instantly. Researchers who studied smartphone checking found that checks are set off by a few situations, and boredom is one of them: the checking habit. Each check is small. Together, they leave little room for the minutes when nothing happens and the mind is free to wander.
How to leave a little boredom in your day
- One wait a day without the phone: a queue, a coffee, the bus stop.
- Walks with nothing in your ears, at least some of them.
- The first minutes of the morning before any screen: a morning without scrolling.
- Keep the phone in a bag, not a pocket, so reaching for it takes a decision.
- Notice the urge, and wait a minute. Often it passes, and something else comes.
Nothing to fill the minute
Lychnos Ring answers when you ask and otherwise stays quiet. There is no feed on it to fill an empty minute, so the minute stays yours. It is in development and makes no health claims.
Sources, read 4 November 2026: Wilson and colleagues, just think: the challenges of the disengaged mind, Science, 2014; Fox and colleagues, is thinking really aversive?, Frontiers in Psychology, 2014; Mann and Cadman, does being bored make us more creative?, Creativity Research Journal, 2014. Abstracts read at Europe PMC and OpenAlex. General information.
Questions
Is boredom good for creativity?
Some evidence says so: in two studies, people who first did a boring task came up with more creative ideas afterwards, and the authors point to daydreaming as the link. The studies were small, so treat it as a hint rather than a rule.
Why is it hard to be alone with your thoughts?
In 11 studies, people did not enjoy 6 to 15 minutes alone with nothing to do but think, enjoyed simple activities more, and many chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than do nothing. Why is still debated.