Boredom isn’t a fire alarm. It’s a text from your brain asking for something real.

Boredom gets treated as an emergency to be put out immediately, and there is always something nearby that will do it. Underneath it is usually a request rather than a problem: for something with substance, something that asks a little of you. The fastest cure is rarely the thing being asked for.

Next time it arrives, sit with it for five minutes before reaching for anything. Ask what would genuinely interest you right now, not what would fill the gap. The answer is often something small and slightly effortful, and the effort is the point rather than the obstacle.