Next time you’re bored, don’t reach for your phone. Boredom is where your brain finally gets to wander.

Boredom is an empty stretch, and your mind does specific things in empty stretches. It wanders, connects unrelated pieces, finishes thoughts you abandoned, and occasionally hands you an idea you were not looking for. Filling every gap means that process never gets to run. Most people have not been properly bored in years and quietly miss what it produced.

Leave one gap unfilled this week, whether that is the queue, the bus, or the ten minutes before sleep. No screen, no music, just let your attention drift and see where it goes. The first few minutes are uncomfortable and then they are not.