Is Your Creativity Blocked For Ignoring This Obvious Habit?

If you were in the 1880’s and saw a man walking around the streets of London for hours clutching a cane, what would you do?

Would you ask him, “Is he okay?” or “When is he releasing the next bestseller?”

Charles Dickens, author of “A Tale of Two Cities” and many other great novels, had a rather surprisingly odd routine.

He wrote intensely for 5 hours, starting from 9 am until 2 pm. Then he would wander off to walk in the streets of London for about 3 hours. It was mandatory for him to walk around the city every day regardless of the weather or occasion, for creative processing and flow in his ideas. 

Walking sounds fun, but alone for 3 hours? That sounds pretty boring.

But I’d bite you and say Charles Dickens knew that it was boring, but it is in that state of boredom that he is able to articulate and find stories and ideas that would help him write stories that sold over 200 million copies worldwide. 

And just like Charles Dickens, I want to convince you that you also need to spend time wandering through boredom frequently, if not every day, to be in touch with the most creative part of yourself. 

To help you do that, we’ll cover 3 things you have to know about boredom

Take your cane and let's go for a walk, shall we?

Take a moment to think about this scenario. Imagine that you’re all alone in this world, in a desert. With no society, jobs, or animals to define or guide your actions.

Is there a point to doing anything?

No, nothing would make sense in that case. But what's the difference even now? Because in reality, nothing truly in this universe holds any true meaning. 

Am I getting psycho? Or am I on to something?

It is us who put meaning into the little things in our everyday life. Because as social and emotional beings, our survival depends on it. 

For example: imagine seeing a random mug in a store. You don't care about it all don’t you? But then again, imagine that same mug being gifted to you by someone you really care about. 

That same mug that you never cared about now has meaning to it.

Who made it meaningful? The special person, of course! But also realize that it is you who inevitably put meaning to the mug.

Which makes us realize one thing.

Boredom reveals that everything in this world is pointless and empty. It's this feeling of emptiness that we desperately avoid boredom so much for — by making us engaged in some sort of activity and stimulation all the time. 

Scary, isn't it?

It really is scary, and also painful– because it shows and tells you to stop searching for a perfect life, because it doesn’t exist. 

Charles Dickens was forced to leave school and do labour for long, grueling hours at a shoe polish factory at 12 years old. 

It was also at this age that his father was sent off to a debtors' prison. 

His marriage was scarred by ten children and an unhappy marriage that stretched to 22 years. Did he have a perfect life?

No, no one does, and true creativity breeds from imperfection - which is why you needed to first understand this. 

But how does boredom actually link with creativity? 

Creative ideas rarely come when you’re thinking about it. And the reason is that the whole process is unconscious. That is why there’s a thing called shower thoughts because you aren’t really trying to think of anything.

Whenever we think of creativity, we always have the idea of trying hard to think of something creative. But trying is the enemy of creativity. 

However, allowing yourself the space to be bored gives you space for random thoughts to pop into your head

But isn't that also a way of trying to be creative? Because it’s still coming with that intent, right?

In a way, yes, doing it with intent means we’re consciously still attempting to be creative in a way. But it's only the space we’re allowing consciously, not a specific thought. 

What exactly happens in the process of allowing yourself to be bored?

You start to think about random things; it starts mostly with the current annoyance factors in your life. 

It could be the numerous deadlines that you have to meet, the laundry that has been held on for a week, and not being able to go to the gym consistently.

And that’s okay; you really need your mind to just wander.

So suddenly, things start to pop up.

Bits and pieces of things you remember from the current book you’re reading, remembering the richness of taste you enjoyed in your last lunch at a restaurant. 

Thoughts start mixing, and rationally it wouldn’t make sense. However, this is the true essence of creativity at play. 

Allowing space for boredom makes you mix and find patterns among different things. To best describe it would be like baking.

Because before the final yummy pastry you see in a bakery, comes the process of a lot of mixing of different ingredients. 

What's your final product? You can't really answer that right now, can you? You need some mixing to do first.

I have taken 19 flight trips this year so far. That's about 42.6 hours of travel. None of them had internet. Personally for me, I'm not able to sleep through the flight, nor can I watch a series.

Somehow, I am able to read for hours, really concentrating. Much more than I usually do on a regular day. 

I finished 2 books on a flight this year. 

And also, I'm able to sit with my thoughts longer, without doing almost anything, and I realize so many different things and remember different memories. 

I’m able to do this because I can't scroll through my phone.

It's a no-stimulation zone for as long as the duration of the flight. 

And that’s the most important rule. The time spent in boredom cannot be anything stimulating. Books are also stimulating to some extent, but not nearly as much as the phone.

So the first rule of thumb would be to spend at least an hour without the phone or the internet. We are surrounding our daily lives and tasks with our phone and the internet. We’re stuck in the loop of vast information from the newsfeed and the meaningless opinions shared on it, so we really aren’t giving time to our thoughts and feelings.

The first thing you'll realize is how much you’re actually attached to your phone and the internet. Not necessarily bad because let’s be real, the phone is important in many ways. 

But that detachment helps you uncover why you’re really addicted to it. 

Secondly, spend your bedtime doing nothing and sitting in the quiet for a bit before you drift off to sleep. This is by far the easiest time of the day you can practice boredom due to our unpredictable and busy schedules. 

And if, for any reason did an idea pops up during this period, note it down. Because our memory is very weak, and you wouldn’t want to forget things like this. 

So that you can move forward with the idea the next day. 

Charles Dickens wasn’t born a best-selling author. He wasn’t extremely talented, and to be fair, a lot of the things around his environment were against his favor.

But it's the element of slowly building a skill over time that led him to create his best novels. 

Just so, building a space and time for boredom would require time and patience. Because, unfortunately, skill-building is a slow process. 

However, it’s not impossible— given that it takes time, you just have to learn to be patient. And be bored for a few hours a day.

To summarize what we covered today, to be bored;

Boredom uncovers the reality of the world: Nothing in its essence holds any meaning; we create meaning through attachment.

Boredom and creativity: True creativity comes when you mix different things and patterns you discover.

How to instill boredom in your life: spend at least an hour without your phone or the internet, and realize skill or habit building is a slow and timely process.

See you next Sunday,

Aaish Sareer

Follow me on Substack: Aaish’s Substack

Do you struggle with constant self-doubt? Do you feel anxious all the time? It’s a sign that you could be having an unregulated self. Our 27-page guide shows you why this happens, and you’d be surprised by the dramatic change it makes in such a short time. (Click here)