Boredom. It’s something we try to avoid at all costs and we constantly keep ourselves busy. But there are some benefits to being bored. It helps our brain to recharge our executive functioning skills, and avoid “cognitive overload”. When we’re bored, our brains also shift to the creativity and imagination parts when it’s not constantly stimulated. A wandering mind can also help with goal-setting, and when we are bored at work, we seek out meaning in other places, contributing to altruism. So, occasional doses of boredom might just be what we, and our children, need.
Key Takeaways:
- Whenever the author and his brother complained to their mother that they were bored, her response was: “I’ll give you something to do.”
- His mother’s activities were mostly house chores to do and that made them to think of finding ways to play by themselves.
- The author did not imitate his mother when he was a parent because he realized that when kids are bored, they are saying they are lonely or sad.
“The latest research shows that our brain doesn’t go into a lower gear when we aren’t focused on something. Instead, the activity shifts to the imagination and creativity parts of the brain.”