“Yes, boredom is that state of agonizing disinterest coupled with the sense that time is moving too slowly.  But that state of mind can help you develop your thinking and creativity skills.”

I consider myself an “expert” on this topic because, in the age before digital swipes and texts, I experienced champion levels of boredom when I was growing up in Queens, New York.

I remember counting the acoustic tiles and then attempting to count their dots as I sat in Knights of Columbus party rooms as we gathered to mark someone’s life or death milestone. I was usually the youngest or only child in attendance, and my old-fashioned, French-born, Polish mother expected me to sit, listen, and not give her any cause for concern or critique.

So, before I learned the concept of mindfulness, I was learning how to “be in the moment” for very long periods.  But here’s what I learned to do and where it informs how I work today. 

I learned how to :

1. Be patient — frankly, I didn’t have a choice. I knew the event would end eventually, and I just had to “hang tight.”
2. Observe behaviors—I would sit there and wonder why one aunt’s lipstick always extended her lip line or why an uncle insisted on leaning into people’s faces and speaking loudly even when his listeners were sitting next to him. 
3. Watch body language—One aunt always monitored the conversations and would swoop in to smooth ruffled feathers if she thought the topic was triggering an angry reaction.
4. Listen—I learned about my relatives’ concerns about work and health. I even learned what gave them some pleasure with my family: food. 
5. Use my imagination — I created stories, sometimes about the people sitting before me, sometimes about things I wanted to do one day, like organizing a fun party or even making up adventures and fables.
6. Mimic — Without realizing it, I was developing an ear for dialogue and an eye for movement, which has served me well in my writing and when I present to groups. 
7. Watch body language—One aunt always monitored the conversations and would swoop in to smooth ruffled feathers if she thought the topic was triggering an angry reaction.
8. Be optimistic—Yes, I held on to the belief that boring events would eventually end, that things would be “better” (aka better) when I was a grown-up, and that maybe everything I learned would come in handy one day.

Don’t just take my word for it; read more information. Here are three articles explaining how your brain needs to be bored to improve its resilience and serve as the gateway to creativity! So the next time you find yourself bored in a meeting, suppress your urge to hide your mobile under a table and scroll. Give your brain a chance just to be!

Articles

Boredom–understanding the emotion and its impact on our lives: an African perspective

Boost your brain with boredom –A little boredom can be a good thing. It can simulate creativity and problem-solving while giving the brain time to…

How to Be Bored, and What You Can Learn From It

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Julienne Ryan Humorist, Speaker, Trainer, Facilitator, Coach

Julienne B. Ryan began her professional career at age five when she did TV commercials and learned important things like “the teamsters always eat first,” her social security number and how to endorse checks for bank deposit.

Ryan studied psychology in college because she wanted to understand humans. She conducted her “field work” in a variety of roles, hearing the phrases “merger synergies, reorganizations, downsizing and rightsizing for change” more times than she cares to mention.

Later she enrolled in an Ivy League graduate school where she paid oodles of money to validate her prior on-the-job learning experiences. However, she did learn to name drop up-to-date theories and trendy psychologists with alarming ease.

Ryan evolved into working in “Talent Management,” a fancy way of saying “try to find people and keep them moderately happy.” With inadequate budgets and staff allocations, she had to find creative ways to encourage her staff to work effectively. These ranged from begging and borrowing resources, improvising childcare, telling stories and even giving snacks as rewards. She tried to convince herself that working a bazillion hours and “multi-tasking” equaled achievement.

Her work took place in cubicles, conference rooms or, with luck, in offices with a door. Occasionally she would make the time to emerge from her allotted real estate to really talk to people. Ryan learned something transformative in the process:

Yes, she was effective. But not because she used fancy theories – or gave great snacks. Ryan’s success, her staff believed, was a result of her uncanny knack for weaving storytelling with humor to motivate and encourage them. Crucially, they encouraged Ryan to de-emphasize “that normal HR stuff” and focus on bringing her unique storytelling skills to a broader stage.

Thanks to them, Ryan continues to collect, connect and tell stories in her work helping people find their “true selves in the world of work.

She is the author of the humorous, all true "The Learned It In Queens Communications Playbook - Winning Against Distraction!".that now includes a workbook and is available at booksellers across the globe..

She is a guest contributor to The Procurement Foundry, LifeBlood, and the global storytelling community.

Certifications include
Accumatch (BI) Behavior Intelligence
Narativ Applied Storytelling Methodologies
Collective Brains – Mentorship Methodologies