We fill every gap. Every queue, every commute, every idle moment gets plugged with a podcast, a scroll, a notification. We have optimized away boredom entirely.
I think that is a mistake.
Where ideas come from
Most of my best ideas have not come from focus sessions or brainstorming. They came from walks. From staring out of windows. From the shower. From moments where my brain had nothing to do and started wandering.
Boredom is not the absence of productivity. It is the precondition for creativity.
An experiment
I have been trying something small: no phone for the first hour after waking up. No input. Just coffee, quiet, and whatever my brain decides to do on its own.
It is uncomfortable at first. Then it becomes the best part of the day.
The point
Not every minute needs to be filled. Some of the best work happens in the gaps between the work.