Day 84 (of 2025/26) daydream believer
Distractions come in many shapes and forms – and while the personal screen does a lot of this, I remain a strong advocate of boredom breaks and , as mentioned in this article, daydreaming – sometimes the kid looking out the window is more engaged than the student staring at you in the classroom…
I still. Promote the value of being bored – rarer and rarer in real life – but good to practice – I still like introducing ‘boredom breaks’ (scaffolding up to 5 mins with out doing stuff – not doodling, reading, talking – just being with one’s thoughts) but acknowledging similar to Seinfeld joke about the fear of death vs fear of public speaking meaning if you’re at a funeral, you’d rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy (yet we still force a lot of public speaking in schools…) – the article highlights how In one famous study, participants preferred to get an electric shock rather than sit quietly with their own thoughts.
I’m glad to read the share that most people enjoy the boredom more than the feared anticipation – this matches my classroom/conference experiences (again with some scaffolded practice – not diving right into the room of sensory deprivation…
Daydreaming et al lets the brain do its authentic synthesis. Links to why good ideas come when showering… or driving on a boring stretch of road… when the brain need not feel ‘on’ for awhile.
It’s sometimes hard to hide away in today’s overly socially connected world… not like the good old days where we could pretend we were reading a newspaper to ignore the world around us… so mindfully taking some time and being bored… daydreaming… better know your own thoughts… can be a good thing.
Embrace opportunities to be bored and do more daydreaming. Nice to see it’s not just another crazy Landy thought!
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