Think about it for a second. When was the last time you were truly bored? Not the kind of boredom instantly rescued by your phone, but real boredom. Sitting still, nothing to do, no screen, just you and your own thoughts. If you are struggling to remember, same here, so am I.

Boredom used to be a normal part of life. I remember being a kid when there was nothing to do, and I would just stare at the ceiling, tap on the table, or daydream about nothing in particular. Boredom was quiet, but it was okay. It would come, I would sit through it, and usually some idea to do something would come out of it.

Now boredom almost never lasts more than a few seconds. The moment there is even a small gap, my hand automatically reaches for my phone. Waiting in line at the cashier, open the phone. Waiting for food to arrive, open the phone. Even a few seconds of an ad feels like something I have to fill by opening another app. Every empty space, I immediately patch it with scrolling.

At first I thought this was a good thing. No time wasted, right. But over time I realized something was missing. I never gave my own mind any room to wander anymore. Every time my brain started to go quiet, I filled it right away with other people’s voices, images, and information.

Yet when I think back, my best ideas often came exactly when I was bored. In the shower, walking with no destination, staring out the window during a trip. Those empty moments were where my mind used to piece things together. Now those empty moments barely exist, because I always fill them before they can turn into anything.

I started to suspect that boredom is actually important. That in boredom, the brain is doing something you cannot see. Connecting ideas, processing feelings, thinking about things left unfinished. When I constantly feed my brain entertainment, I never give it the chance to do that quiet work.

And maybe it is not just about creativity. Boredom also forces me to face myself. When there is no distraction, I start to hear my real thoughts. Feelings I have been avoiding, questions I have not answered, things that were buried under the noise of the screen. Maybe that is also why I rush to fill every gap. Because silence sometimes makes me face things I do not want to look at.

I am not saying scrolling is evil. I still do it every day. But I am starting to think about letting myself be bored again once in a while. Walking without earphones. Sitting without opening my phone. Letting a gap exist without patching it right away.

Because maybe what I need is not more entertainment, but more empty space. Space where I can think, get to know myself, and once again feel something that used to be ordinary but turns out to be valuable, which is being truly bored.