Weird title right?
Embrace Morning Boredom. Why would you want to do that?
So engrained is the human aversion to boredom, that in an experiment conducted by Timothy Wilson, a social psychologist at the University of Virginia, 67% of male participants deliberately electrocuted themselves to alleviate their boredom.
Why then, should you listen when a filmmaker with no qualifications or credentials within the world of behavioural psychology tells you to embrace an emotion so undesirable, that the vast majority of humans would rather electrocute themselves than experience?
The answer is simple, within the constraints of boredom, creativity flourishes. Your eyes are rolling to the back of your head and that’s fair, so let’s dig deeper.
When was the last time you were truly bored? I mean really bored; your phone has run out of battery on a long train journey bored? For the majority of readers, I can imagine the answer is difficult to pinpoint. Such is the modern milieu, that we are surrounded by a glut of distractions designed to prevent us from hovering over the electric shock button.
So why is this a bad thing? Well let’s use your morning routine as an example. I would imagine it a fair assumption that the majority of people begin the day by engaging with their phone; whether it be email, social media, news, YouTube, you name it, it’s there. The trouble here is as follows, the first hour of the day is actually when your brain is at it’s most neuroplastic. During this period your brain is transferring from delta waves* to theta waves* to alpha waves*** and finally to beta waves (essentially your awake state to use reductionist phrasing).
In denying yourself the sensation of boredom in the morning, you are jumping straight from the Delta waves stage to Beta wave functioning. This has the effect of bi-passing the all-important Theta state wherein your brain is at its most creative and free-flowing. In denying yourself this state, you are shutting the door to the bit of your brain that suddenly pings you an incredible idea, seemingly from no where and instead you are priming yourself for distraction throughout the day.
The solution seems simple: deny yourself access to you phone for the first hour of the day. Fine, but we have all be conditioned to vehemently reject any scenario in which we are left alone with our thoughts (heaven forbid). So, in an attempt to appease the bit of my brain that likes to help others here are some methods for starting the day that produce the best results in terms of creativity and efficiency for me:
1. Go analogue, get alarm clock to remove that initial temptation to use your phone.
2. Install the forest app: it provides a fantastic incentive not to use your phone for a time period you determine for yourself. Set the timer to an hour.
3. Do any housework that needs be done. Engage autopilot and make this a meditative experience. See where your brain goes during this time.
4. Write down anything you think of worth holding onto.
5. Exercise/ meditate/ go outside for the remainder of your timer.
6. Realise you enjoy interactions with your phone way more if you are forced to wait for them.
Whilst I am aware the above will not suit everyone, hopefully it’s a jumping pad for you to create your own boredom-centric routine in the morning. Give it a try and see how you feel afterwards. For me this method really does increase my mental clarity and productivity, I hope you find a similar outcome for yourself too.
* high amplitude brain waves responsible for body rejuvenation and brain revitalisation ** low frequency brain waves connected to creativity, intuition, daydreaming and repository for memories ***responsible for healthy mental coordination and resourcefulness.
Sources:
https://nhahealth.com/brainwaves-the-language/ https://www.science.org/content/article/people-would-rather-be-electrically-shocked-left-alone-their-thoughts
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