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I will always remember my son's first day of school. Lucas was five years old and he was going to kindergarten, and he was so excited. He was going to take the bus, and we were excited for him. And I’ll never forget that day when I came home, I was eager to check in with him to hear, "How did it go?" And Lucas's response was, "Dad, I'm tired of hearing about hallway procedures." I found his response both amusing and sad. Amusing because I thought, oh my gosh, you have a lifetime of hallway procedures you're going to have to work through. And also amusing because it captured so well how schools and institutions can just grind us down with their bureaucratic rules and monotonous procedures. But I found it sad because this was his first day of school, and his takeaway on that very first day, was that school is boring. This is a boring place. However, he's going to have to learn to deal with boredom. It's something we all learn to deal with. Boredom is a common and familiar problem. And I think at first it can seem like a trivial problem. If you're bored, just find something interesting, move on to the next thing. But actually, I’m going to argue that it’s far more complex. And that it needs our attention. And I'm going to offer three takeaways for how to contend with boredom well.

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I will always remember / my son's first day of school. // Lucas was five years old / and he was going to kindergarten, / and he was so excited. // He was going to take the bus, / and we were excited for him. // And I’ll never forget / that day / when I came home, / I was eager to check in with him / to hear, "How did it go?" // And Lucas's response was, / "Dad, / I'm tired of hearing about hallway procedures." // I found his / response / both / amusing and sad. // Amusing because I thought, / oh my gosh, / you have a lifetime of hallway procedures / you're going to have to work through. // And also amusing / because it captured so well / how schools and institutions can just grind us down / with their bureaucratic rules and monotonous procedures. // But I found it sad because / this was his first day of school, / and his takeaway / on that very first day, / was that / school is boring. // This is a boring place. // However, / he's going to have to learn to deal with boredom. // It's something we all / learn to deal with. // Boredom is / a common and familiar problem. // And I think / at first it can seem like a trivial problem. // If you're bored, / just find something interesting, / move on to the next thing. // But actually, / I’m going to argue that it’s far more complex. // And that it needs our attention. // And I'm going to offer three takeaways / for how to contend with boredom well. //

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In schools, boredom is a big problem. An overwhelming majority of high school students report being bored in school. And this is a problem because when students are bored in school, they begin to lose interest, they can't focus. And when students are bored in school, they start to misbehave. I was a high school teacher, and if my students were bored, I was petrified because I was going to have problems. This was going to be a disaster. And if students are chronically bored year after year, eventually they just drop out and peel away from school altogether. But boredom is not just a problem in schools. It's a problem that tracks us beyond schools. There are several troubling addictions that are linked to boredom. When we're bored, we drink too much, we eat too much, we spend too much money, we buy things we don't need. There are entire industries that are designed around making us bored. And so boredom has some really problematic behaviors linked to it, but even more than these troubling addictions, there are also these smaller things. The half-listening to friends and acquaintances when we’re bored. Or just the way we idle our time when we’re bored. I'm dating myself, but if I could take back the 10,000 hours I put into Tetris and put that into actually playing guitar, I'd be a professional musician right now. That was kind of a joke, anyway. So, boredom is something we need to look at, and we look at boredom, we tend to think about it objectively. I’m bored by this teacher or I’m bored by this book I’m reading or this person I'm talking to. And boredom tends to objectify things and actually be quite judgmental and arrogant. That's a boring person, that's a boring book. But in truth, boredom is both objective and subjective. We're actually making a judgment call, deciding whether something is boring or not. And we know that what bores one person could actually be very interesting to another. So in this respect, boredom is kind of a curious and perplexing mood state. What do we make of it?

Let's follow Kevin...

In schools, / boredom is a big problem. // An overwhelming majority of high school students / report being bored in school. // And this is a problem because / when students are bored in school, / they begin to lose interest, / they can't focus. // And when students are bored in school, / they start to misbehave. // I was a high school teacher, / and if my students were bored, / I was petrified because I was going to have problems. // This was going to be a disaster. // And if students are chronically bored / year after year, / eventually they just drop out / and peel away from school altogether. // But boredom is not just a problem in schools, / it's a problem that tracks us beyond schools. // There are several troubling addictions / that are linked to boredom. // When we're bored, / we drink too much, / we eat too much, / we / spend too much / money, / we buy things we don't need. // There are entire industries that are designed around / making us bored. // And so boredom has some really problematic behaviors linked to it, / but even more than these troubling addictions, / there are also these smaller / things. // The half-listening to friends and acquaintances when we’re bored. // Or just the way we idle our time when we’re bored. // I'm dating myself, / but if I could take back the 10,000 hours I put into Tetris / and put that into actually playing guitar, / I'd be a professional musician right now. // That was kind of a joke, / anyway. // So, / boredom is something we need to look at, / and we look at boredom, / we tend to think about it objectively. // I’m bored by this teacher / or I’m bored by this book I’m reading / or this person I'm talking to. // And boredom tends to objectify things / and actually be quite judgmental / and arrogant. // That's a boring person, / that's a boring book. // But in truth, / boredom is both objective and subjective. // We're actually making a judgment call, / deciding whether something is boring / or not. // And we know that / what bores one person / could actually be very interesting to another. // So in this respect, / boredom is kind of a curious and perplexing mood state. // What do we make of it? //