--- title: I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored | daily.dev description: A personal essay argues that constantly filling idle moments with phones, feeds, and instant AI answers has quietly eliminated boredom, and with it the... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored | daily.dev og:description: A personal essay argues that constantly filling idle moments with phones, feeds, and instant AI answers has quietly eliminated boredom, and with it the... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/XCmmeq8ZC.png og:image:alt: I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored **[DEV](https://daily.dev/sources/devto)** · 8 min read · 78 upvotes · 25 comments ## Summary A personal essay argues that constantly filling idle moments with phones, feeds, and instant AI answers has quietly eliminated boredom, and with it the undirected mental wandering that produces creative ideas, self-reflection, and tolerance for discomfort. The author draws a parallel to a prior piece about struggle being load-bearing for satisfaction, suggesting that smoothing away 'not knowing' removes the thinking that happens while sitting with an unresolved question. No prescriptive fix is offered beyond a small suggestion to resist reaching for a phone during empty moments like waiting for a kettle, and the piece closes with a question inviting readers to share when they last experienced genuine boredom. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@andreasenni** · 8 upvotes > It's crazy to think how as children we usually dislike boredom and crave something to do; then now we're so filled with everything every time and we end up realising we need to be bored and crave boredom **@rednam** · 6 upvotes > Boredomism is not easy 😁 **@bob72** · 2 upvotes > I deleted IG, never been happier. **@santhoshjoy** · 2 upvotes > Yeah, I really don't give myself a second to get bored. Because my mind automatically turns into watching or clicking something on my phone, and when I hear about consciously getting bored, I started practicing it, but it only lasts for a single day, and after that I literally forget about this. Thanks for reminding me again, and it's truly worth enjoying boredom in our lives. **@hardik15** · 2 upvotes > Yes for sure. This has started before a decade ago, when the app stores starts getting thousands of apps. > > Earlier life with BlackBerry or Nokia phones was pretty simple and boring. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Get Bored\!](https://daily.dev/posts/get-bored--xyjxzjsbi) · Hackaday · 223 upvotes · 27 comments - [Stop Saying Boredom is Good for Kids – fast.ai](https://daily.dev/posts/stop-saying-boredom-is-good-for-kids-fast-ai-zlnbv8ds9) · fast.ai · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Why we never get to what matters](https://daily.dev/posts/why-we-never-get-to-what-matters-bzo5hqvic) · Tech Lead Digest · 24 upvotes · 3 comments - [The Suffering Reader in the Age of AI](https://daily.dev/posts/the-suffering-reader-in-the-age-of-ai-8amot9kkn) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Importance of Being Idle](https://daily.dev/posts/the-importance-of-being-idle-u2iaulebt) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc"},"datePublished":"2026-10-07T17:01:04.220Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T17:44:13.921Z","description":"A personal essay argues that constantly filling idle moments with phones, feeds, and instant AI answers has quietly eliminated boredom, and with it the...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7eeedd824847f90cc09aade5c25acad5?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7eeedd824847f90cc09aade5c25acad5?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"DEV","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DEV","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/devto","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/devto"},"commentCount":25,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":78},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":25}],"keywords":"ai,productivity","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DEV","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/devto"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I Think We're Forgetting How to Be Bored"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-think-we-re-forgetting-how-to-be-bored-xcmmeq8zc","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"It’s crazy to think how as children we usually dislike boredom and crave something to do; then now we’re so filled with everything every time and we end up realising we need to be bored and crave boredom","datePublished":"2026-10-08T06:39:54.973Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XCmmeq8ZC#c-eNlwTDffQ","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrea Senni","url":"https://daily.dev/andreasenni","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocL9zDvgvAHJyMsmnVewPaOwW1fMuVIk0D1besTkxG8tnUmIoQ=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":8}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Boredomism is not easy 😁","datePublished":"2026-10-08T02:36:43.380Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XCmmeq8ZC#c-d2pNWyiuB","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"RedNam","url":"https://daily.dev/rednam","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/AFdZucqDSNunrSaLtT2ym3V6Qxx6l89iznW_u9akrtiI6Vg=s100"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":6}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I deleted IG, never been happier.","datePublished":"2026-10-08T22:43:37.098Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XCmmeq8ZC#c-wcu9707Gm","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Bob","url":"https://daily.dev/bob72","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/193962566?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Yeah, I really don’t give myself a second to get bored. Because my mind automatically turns into watching or clicking something on my phone, and when I hear about consciously getting bored, I started practicing it, but it only lasts for a single day, and after that I literally forget about this. Thanks for reminding me again, and it’s truly worth enjoying boredom in our lives.","datePublished":"2026-10-08T06:59:50.613Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XCmmeq8ZC#c-VIDL2fwal","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Santhosh Joy","url":"https://daily.dev/santhoshjoy","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocL4iV1eJ5QXrn1ZR5pZpl_1CKvXQNC55Jlrg1KdCZ-f-yFle2smxw=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Yes for sure. This has started before a decade ago, when the app stores starts getting thousands of apps.\nEarlier life with BlackBerry or Nokia phones was pretty simple and boring.","datePublished":"2026-10-08T04:49:04.717Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XCmmeq8ZC#c-06Fb5cfoe","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Hardik","url":"https://daily.dev/hardik15","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}]} ```