The benefits of boredom - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Sam.  

How's your week been, Sam? Oh, you know, quiet - I haven't

done much or been anywhere - so,

it's been a bit boring. I know that feeling - when

nothing exciting happens, it can

lead to boredom - the state

of feeling little excitement

or enthusiasm, often because

you've got nothing to do.

But Sam, there is some good

news - boredom can

be good for you. Tell me more!  

I will but not until I've

set you a question to answer.

A survey by British newspaper

The Mirror, found Peter Willis

to be 'the most boring man

in Britain'. What 'boring'

hobby did he have that earned

him that title? Was it...? a) Collecting train numbers -

that's train spotting, b) Taking photos of letterboxes,

or c) Driving around

roundabouts of the UK. Wow - they all sounds deadly

boring - but I imagine taking

photos of letterboxes is

the most boring - perhaps? Well, as usual, I will give

you the answer at the end

of the programme. But, as

you say, we might die of

boredom following those

hobbies - a phrase that

expresses how extremely

bored you are. But not for everyone - boredom

depends on your state of

mind - some of us might

find something boring while

others might it fascinating. True. But let's talk about

feeling bored when we have

nothing to do - not even

trainspotting! Having nothing

to do, or doing the same

task again and again, can

certainly be demotivating.

But according to Sandi Mann,

who was speaking on the BBC

World Service's The Why Factor

programme, being bored doesn't

have to be boring - it

can be good for us... It's this emotion everyone

thinks is so negative but

there's a real positive to

it too, there's a real upside

to it. We become more creative,

so for example, being bored

allows our mind to wander,

allows us to daydream, and

that can actually lead us to

problem solving and creativity.

I fear that by swiping and

scrolling our boredom away

these days, that we're

losing that creativity

because we've got so

much to entertain us - but

it seems that the more we

have to entertain us, the

more bored we seem to be!

And there's a reason

for that - and that's

because we actually get

addicted to stimulation

and to novelty. Some interesting thoughts

from Sandi Mann there.

She says that there's an

upside to boredom - that

means a positive side

to a bad situation. And

that is, it can make

us more creative. That's because when we

have nothing to do, we

allow our minds to wander.

We can think freely, which

might help us solve problems.

This can't happen when, as

Sandi says, we swipe and

scroll our boredom away -

referring to the movements

we make on smartphones. Yes, and it's smartphones

we turn to for entertainment

when we are bored - it

gives us stimulation - it

activates or enriches the

mind. And it gives us

something new, unusual and

different to look at - what

we can call novelty. I'm sure many of us look at

our phones when we are in a

queue or sitting on a bus -

just to prevent being

bored - but it seems we

should just sit and think.

Let's take inspiration from

Manoush Zomorodi - an author

and host of the Zig Zag

podcast. Here she is speaking

on The Why Factor programme,

explaining that it takes

effort but it's worth it... We think, who wants to be

bored? What an awful sensation

that is. And I think that the

issue is with mind-wandering,

you don't immediately get to

roses and chirping birds,

and amazing creative

thinking - there is this

uncomfortable period that

you have to pass through

where maybe you start thinking

about things you don't want

to think about or uncomfortable

situations or unpleasant

feelings that you have,

that's why boredom I think

has negative connotations 'cos

we feel uncomfortable - but

when we stick with it that's

when the good stuff can come. So, we might think boredom

as an awful sensation - or

feeling - because that's

when we start focussing

on negative things.

Manoush thinks that's why

we have negative

connotations with boredom. A connotation is an emotion

connected to a word. But

if we work through the

bad stuff and stick with

it, amazing creative

thinking can happen - as

Manoush says 'the good

stuff can come'. So, basically, don't think

of boredom as being boring!

However, could this adjective

be applied to the hobby

that Peter Willis - the

most boring man in

Britain - does? Ah yes, Neil, you asked me

what that hobby is. And I

said he took photos of

postboxes. Was I right? Yes, you were! Congratulations.

The former postman dreams of

taking a photo of all of

Britain's 115,000 postboxes. Well, good luck to Peter.

I didn't realise there were

so many postboxes in the UK!

So, we've been talking about

the benefits of boredom

today - boredom is the state

of feeling little excitement

or enthusiasm. We mentioned the phrase to die

of boredom which we use to

express how extremely

bored we are. But boredom has an upside,

which means it has a positive

side to a bad situation. We heard the word stimulation

which means activates or

enriches the mind. And

novelty which describes

something that is new,

unusual or different. And we described a

connotation - that's an

emotion connected to a word. Well, I hope you haven't been

bored listening to us!

Goodbye for now! Bye!