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You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why.

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If you embrace the skill of boredom, you might get better at confronting life’s bigger questions around meaning, happiness, and work. When we are bored, our brain moves to its default mode network, which are structures that switch on when you don’t have anything else to think about. When this happens, your mind wanders and thinks about, for example, big questions of meaning in your life. This makes us uncomfortable, but this kind of thinking is beneficial. To begin, commute with nothing, not even the radio. Try phone-free periods of 15 minutes and longer. And have device-free meals with your family.

Psychology You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why. by Arthur C. Brooks August 28, 2025 Post Post Share Save Get PDF Buy Copies Print Summary . If you embrace the skill of boredom, you might get better at confronting life’s bigger questions around meaning, happiness, and work. When we are bored, our brain moves to its default mode ... more Leer en español Ler em português Post Post Share Save Get PDF Buy Copies Print Are you afraid of boredom? In this video, Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks, author of The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life , makes the case that boredom isn’t a problem to es

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