STRATEGIC BOREDOM:
How To Get Your Best Ideas… Without Effort
Could a little unfilled time give your mind the room it needs
to make useful connections?
By Matt DiMaio
Have you ever spent an hour wrestling with a problem, only to have an answer pop into your head while taking a shower?
You scrub. You rinse. Suddenly… “THAT’S what I should do!”
Apparently, your shampoo has a consulting department.
Or perhaps it happens while you’re walking, folding laundry, or washing dishes. You stop pushing for an answer, and an idea finally shows up.
What’s going on?
One possibility is that you’ve given your mind something it rarely gets these days: a little room to wander.
That’s the idea behind what I’ll call Strategic Boredom. You deliberately leave a few moments free from incoming information so your own thoughts have a chance to develop.
When Did Every Spare Moment Become Screen Time?
Suppose you arrive five minutes early for an appointment.
What do you do?
If you’re like many people, you reach for your phone.
Waiting for coffee? Check your messages.
Standing in line? Watch a video.
Eating lunch alone? Scroll through something.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your phone. But when every small opening gets filled, you lose opportunities to notice what’s happening inside your own head.
You’re always receiving someone else’s thoughts.
When do you give your own a turn?
Imagine a conversation in which one person never stops talking. You might have something wonderful to contribute, but you can’t find an opening.
Constant input can make your day feel a little like that conversation.
Your Brain Can Be Busy While You Look Idle
Researchers study a collection of connected brain regions called the default mode network. It is involved in internally directed thinking, including remembering personal experiences and imagining the future. Research also links creative thinking to cooperation between this network and other brain systems involved in control and attention.
You don’t need to remember the brain terminology.
The useful point is that thinking takes different forms. Concentrating hard on a problem is one. Letting your thoughts move more freely is another.
In a 2012 experiment, researchers found that an undemanding activity during a break helped people improve on creative problems they had already encountered. The activity allowed more mind wandering than a demanding task did.
Other research has explored what scientists call the “shower effect.” Across two studies, mind wandering was associated with more creative ideas during moderately engaging activities. That suggests the helpful ingredient isn’t simply being as bored as possible. An easy activity can give your mind enough occupation to let thoughts flow.
So, no, you don’t have to spend an afternoon watching paint dry.
Your laundry may be demanding enough.
Focus First. Then Make Some Room.
Suppose you’re trying to improve a presentation.
You review your notes. You consider your audience. You try several openings, but none feels right.
Then you put the work aside and take a quiet walk.
Halfway around the block, you remember a conversation with a customer. There’s your opening story.
The walk didn’t supply information you had never encountered. It gave you an opportunity to connect things you already knew.
Walking itself may help with generating ideas. In experiments by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz, walking improved performance on tasks that involved producing creative possibilities. It did not provide the same benefit for every kind of thinking task.
The practical lesson?
Give a problem some honest attention. Then, when you’re stuck, try changing how you spend the next few minutes.
Here are four ways to experiment with Strategic Boredom.
- Leave One Small Gap Unfilled
Choose one ordinary moment each day when you usually reach for entertainment.
Drink your morning coffee without opening an app. Fold a load of towels without a video playing. Spend a few minutes on the porch without bringing a screen.
Start with five minutes as a simple experiment. There’s nothing magical about that number.
At first, you may feel an urge to check something.
Notice it. You don’t have to obey every invitation your thumb sends you.
- Give Your Mind Something to Work With
Before your quiet break, identify one question.
“What would make this explanation easier to understand?”
“What could I try with this customer?”
“What’s another way to approach this assignment?”
Write the question down. Spend a little time considering it.
Then set it aside.
You’re giving yourself a starting point without demanding an answer every ten seconds.
A gardener plants a seed and gives it time. Constantly digging it up to inspect it doesn’t improve the harvest.
- Choose an Easy, Familiar Activity
Take a comfortable walk. Water your plants. Wash a few dishes.
Choose something that leaves room for thought without requiring close concentration.
Let your mind move. You don’t have to turn the break into another assignment.
And while ideas sometimes appear during a drive, driving deserves your attention. Save deliberate mind wandering for a safer setting. If a good idea occurs to you, say it out loud to yourself and then record your inspiration after you’ve parked.
- Catch the Idea. Then Check It.
When something useful occurs to you, express it as soon as you can. Either jot down a few words as a reminder when it’s convenient or say the idea out loud so you can hear it as well as think it. Don’t assume you’ll remember it later.
“The brilliant idea I had yesterday” is a frustrating filing system.
Then return to the idea and examine it. Does it make sense? Will it help? What small step could you take to test it?
A sudden insight is a possibility to explore. It still needs your judgment.
Give Your Own Thoughts a Turn
Strategic Boredom won’t produce a breakthrough every time.
Sometimes you’ll take a walk and come home with nothing more than a pleasant walk. That’s allowed, too.
But you can begin making space for possibilities.
Today, leave one small part of your day unfilled. Let the dishes be dishes. Let the coffee be coffee. Let your thoughts have a little breathing room.
You may discover that the next useful idea doesn’t require another search, another video, or another notification.
It may need a quiet moment in which you can finally hear yourself think.
About the author:
Matt DiMaio is an author, educator, speaker, and Rapid Learning Specialist who has spent more than four decades teaching people how to learn faster, remember more and improve their personal effectiveness. He is the creator of the Be Smarter Faster YouTube channel and author of The 48-Hour Author, along with several books on learning, memory, and personal development.
Websites:
YouTube – www.youtube.com/BeSmarterFaster
My 5 Books – www.Amazon.com/author/mattdimaio
NO Cost/LOW Cost training & courses – www.tinyurl.com/TGDMatt
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/therealmattdimaio
LinkedIn: www.Linkedin.com/in/mattdimaio
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