Nearly five years ago, I booked a retreat (僻静处) to work on my book, Tracking Wonder. I knew I worked best with limited distraction, but when I finally was able to carve time away from the world to do this creative work, I found it very difficult to focus. 【小题1】 Now I know that we need to work on something counter-intuitive (违反直觉的): our ability to be bored.

【小题2】

Ⅰ. Reboot(重启) your mental health.

Just as our muscles need rest days between workouts to grow stronger, our minds need periods of idleness to process the world around us.

Innovators in times of crisis and adversity actually grant themselves space to be bored and daydream deliberately. This kind of daydreaming can lead to positive mental feelings of hope, renewal, and forward motion, but it requires boredom and space.

Ⅱ. 【小题3】

The capacity to be bored and the capacity to be creative go hand in hand. Want to increase your creativity? 【小题4】 Embrace those periods of boredom that are built into your commute, break time, or meals. Turn off the podcast, stop scrolling through the news feeds, and let your mind lie fallow (休耕的) so that the seeds of your next idea have space to grow.

Ⅲ. Reconnect with what matters to you.

These days, current events—and the resulting analysis, opinions, and Twitter hot takes—come at us so quickly that it’s difficult to process one issue before the next takes its place. 【小题5】 Rather than reaching for stimulation (刺激) by searching for the next event to be entertained or enraged (激怒) by, boredom gives you space to think through the information you’re gathering and begin to challenge ideas. The next time you find yourself compelled to reach for your phone, I challenge you to try sitting with what matters to you, and letting your idle mind discover surprising connections.