How-boredom-can-lead-to-your-most-brilliant-ideas

00:12MysonandtheiPhonewerebornthreeweeksapartinJune2007.Sowhilethoseearlyadopterswerelinedupoutside,waitingtogettheirhandsonthisamazingnewgadget,Iwasstuckathomewithmyhandsfullofsomethingelsethatwassendingoutconstantnotifications--00:33amiserable,colickybabywhowouldonlysleepinamovingstrollerwithcompletesilence.Iliterallywaswalking10to15milesaday,andthebabyweightcameoff.Thatpartwasgreat.00:48Butman,wasIbored.Beforemotherhood,IhadbeenajournalistwhorushedoffwhentheConcordecrashed.IwasoneofthefirstpeopleintoBelgradewhentherewasarevolutioninSerbia.Now,Iwasexhausted.Thiswalkingwentonforweeks.Itwasonlyuntilaboutthreemonthsinthatsomethingshifted,though.AsIpoundedthepavement,mymindstartedtowander,too.IbeganimaginingwhatIwoulddowhenIfinallydidsleepagain.woulddowhenIfinallydidsleepagain.01:22Sothecolicdidfade,andIfinallygotaniPhoneandIputallthosehoursofwanderingintoaction.Icreatedmydreamjobhostingapublicradioshow.Sotherewasnomorerushingofftowarzones,butthankstomynewsmartphone,Icouldbeamotherandajournalist.IcouldbeontheplaygroundandonTwitteratthesametime.Yeah,well,whenIthoughtthat,whenthetechnologycameinandtookover,thatiswhenIhitawall.01:52So,Iwantyoutopicturethis:youhostapodcast,andyouhavetoprovethattheinvestmentofpreciouspublicradiodollarsinyouisworthit.Mygoalwastoincreasemyaudiencesizetenfold.Sooneday,Isatdowntobrainstorm,asyoudo,andIcameupbarren.Thiswasdifferentthanwriter'sblock,right?Itwasn'tliketherewassomethingtherewaitingtobeunearthed.Therewasjustnothing.AndsoIstartedtothinkback:WhenwasthelasttimeIactuallyhadagoodidea?Yeah,itwaswhenIwaspushingthatdamnstroller.Nowallthecracksinmydaywerefilledwithphonetime.IcheckedtheheadlineswhileIwaitedformylatte.IupdatedmycalendarwhileIwassittingonthecouch.TextingturnedeverysparemomentintoachancetoshowtomycoworkersandmydearhusbandwhataresponsivepersonIwas,oratleastitwasachancetofindanotherperfectcouchformypageonPinterest.IrealizedthatIwasneverbored.Andanyway,don'tonlyboringpeoplegetbored?02:57ButthenIstartedtowonder:Whatactuallyhappenstouswhenwegetbored?Or,moreimportantly:Whathappenstousifwenevergetbored?Andwhatcouldhappenifwegotridofthishumanemotionentirely?Istartedtalkingtoneuroscientistsandcognitivepsychologists,andwhattheytoldmewasfascinating.Itturnsoutthatwhenyougetbored,youigniteanetworkinyourbraincalledthedefaultmode.Soourbody,itgoesonautopilotwhilewe'refoldingthelaundryorwe'rewalkingtowork,butactuallythatiswhenourbraingetsreallybusy.Here'sboredomresearcherDr.SandiMann.03:36(Audio)Dr.SandiMann:Onceyoustartdaydreamingandallowyourmindtoreallywander,youstartthinkingalittlebitbeyondtheconscious,alittlebitintothesubconscious,whichallowssortofdifferentconnectionstotakeplace.It'sreallyawesome,actually.03:49ManoushZomorodi:Totallyawesome,right?03:51SothisismybraininanfMRI,andIlearnedthatinthedefaultmodeiswhenweconnectdisparateideas,wesolvesomeofourmostnaggingproblems,andwedosomethingcalledautobiographicalplanning.Thisiswhenwelookbackatourlives,wetakenoteofthebigmoments,wecreateapersonalnarrative,andthenwesetgoalsandwefigureoutwhatstepsweneedtotaketoreachthem.ButnowwechilloutonthecouchalsowhileupdatingaGoogleDocorreplyingtoemail.Wecallitgettingshitdone,buthere'swhatneuroscientistDr.DanielLevitinsayswe'reactuallydoing.04:27(Audio)Dr.DanielLevitin:Everytimeyoushiftyourattentionfromonethingtoanother,thebrainhastoengageaneurochemicalswitchthatusesupnutrientsinthebraintoaccomplishthat.Soifyou'reattemptingtomultitask,youknow,doingfourorfivethingsatonce,you'renotactuallydoingfourorfivethingsatonce,becausethebraindoesn'tworkthatway.Instead,you'rerapidlyshiftingfromonethingtothenext,depletingneuralresourcesasyougo.04:52(Audio)MZ:Soswitch,switch,switch,you'reusingglucose,glucose,glucose.04:55(Audio)DL:Exactlyright,andwehavealimitedsupplyofthatstuff.04:59MZ:Adecadeago,weshiftedourattentionatworkeverythreeminutes.Nowwedoitevery45seconds,andwedoitalldaylong.Theaveragepersonchecksemail74timesaday,andswitchestasksontheircomputer566timesaday.Idiscoveredallthistalkingtoprofessorofinformatics,Dr.GloriaMark.05:23(Audio)Dr.GloriaMark:Sowefindthatwhenpeoplearestressed,theytendtoshifttheirattentionmorerapidly.Wealsofound,strangelyenough,thattheshortertheamountofsleepthatapersongets,themorelikelytheyaretocheckFacebook.Sowe'reinthisvicious,habitualcycle.05:44MZ:Butcouldthiscyclebebroken?Whatwouldhappenifwebrokethisviciouscycle?Maybemylistenerscouldhelpmefindout.Whatifwereclaimedthosecracksinourday?Couldithelpusjump-startourcreativity?WecalledtheprojectBoredandBrilliant.AndIexpected,youknow,acouplehundredpeopletoplayalong,butthousandsofpeoplestartedsigningup.Andtheytoldmethereasontheyweredoingitwasbecausetheywereworriedthattheirrelationshipwiththeirphonehadgrownkindof...codependent,shallwesay.06:24(Audio)Man:Therelationshipbetweenababyanditsteddybearorababyanditsbinkyorababythatwantsitsmother'scradlewhenit'sdonewithbeingheldbyastranger--06:35(Laughs)06:37that'stherelationshipbetweenmeandmyphone.06:40(Audio)Woman:Ithinkofmyphonelikeapowertool:extremelyuseful,butdangerousifI'mnothandlingitproperly.06:46(Au