Be Bored More. Here’s Why.

Have you ever been at a red light and picked up your phone?  We all do.   Know why?   We’re bored.  And checking email, texts, or worse, engaging the endless scroll of social media fixes that, as we look for something, anything to solve that boredom.

I’d like to make the case that our lack of boredom is one of the things that makes radio less entertaining.  I’ll explain, considering I spend 100% of my time helping shows not be boring.  (There’s a difference between you being boring and the benefit of you being bored.)

I’m always asking shows I work with, “Yea but what are we going to do with that to stand out?”  Our step back from being creative has a huge downside.  People don’t talk about us, they’re not captured by our imagination and curiosity, and we do fewer things that listeners find memorable so we’re not top-of-mind.  I think the solution appears when we go get bored because when we clear our heads, creativity happens.

I get bored in Umstead Park, right by my house.  I leash up Willow Two Toys® and Sam the World’s Neediest Dog® and we go for a walk.  No phone, no music, no headphones, no disruptions.  I turn the “gotta figure this out” dial down to zero.  Only nature and my wandering mind.  And what enters my brain when I invite in some boredom are solutions to challenges, ideas, and ways to innovate I didn’t have when I was filling that boredom with an endless search for something to solve it.

I don’t profess to have any super creative abilities.  But I have found, when I create that brain space by walking through the park, things magically happen.  I don’t know why and can’t predict when, but it happens.  We don’t do enough of that.  As an example from last week, we have a holiday concert at one station and the morning show has 100 tickets to give out.  Instead of doing pairs of tickets so lots of listeners win, or the dreaded Family Four Pack (someone kill this, please), the walk through the park brought me the idea to give all 100 tickets to one listener.  The morning show promotion Deck Your Doors was born in the park because of the boredom.  The talent and brand manager loved it and now we have something that’ll make our show stand out.

When I got back to the office one day after pondering this, I Googled “the impact boredom has on creativity”.  What I found was amazing.  An article came up by Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor.  As did a video (below).  It’s worth five minutes of your time.  He said:

“We hate boredom because it makes us think about things we don’t like.  But boredom switches our brains to bring us creativity, solutions, and even less depression.”

So, I’m here to say go be bored.  Find a park, let your feet touch grass figuratively, leave the phone behind, and let your mind wander.  If you’re one of my on-air talent, try this weekly and watch what happens to your creativity.

Any of us could bang the drum on radio’s issues.  One thing in our control is what fuels our innovative spirit.  Those of us of a certain age remember the wild west days when we’d think of an idea on Tuesday and it’d be on the air on Wednesday.  It doesn’t just have to be standard phone topics or family four packs.  We need quirky ideas and treatments to the right content on our shows that capture the listener’s imagination because they came from ours.  Doing fresh things with the right topics will make whoever is listening in that moment stay because it’s so compelling.  Getting more bored might bring you those ideas – it’s what works for me.

I recently decided to add to the boredom menu.  I bought a bike.  While my friends all have bets on when I’ll end up in the emergency room, I’m betting that the boredom of the rides, with no phones or distractions, will unlock more of my curiosity.  A few days ago, the boredom of a ride brought me the idea for this blog.

I understand how the phone manufacturers and social media algorithms have addicted us.  But some boredom unlocks creativity.  So, let’s make some room for that to reclaim our full imagination.  Ditch that bonus meeting or Zoom (unless it’s with me!) and create space in your week to let your mind wander.  A walk in the park is my secret weapon.  Maybe it’s yours, too.  It could help your problem solving and increase your creativity, too.  Then watch how much more inventive and memorable your show gets.