Are you bored and feel the need to be entertained?
Peter Bregman wrote a thought-provoking article last week in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Why I returned my iPad.”
The premise is the iPad is too good. It is an escape boredom device that distracts us from reaching a state of boredom that triggers our most creative capabilities.
Much of the parenting advice I have heard of the last few years flies in the face of this premise. Keep your kids busy. When they start to mix it up, distract them into another activities quickly. Whatever you do, don’t let them get bored.
Have you heard those parenting advice tales?
I will not argue these tactics don’t work. I will argue using them kills creative imagination.
Recently, I took the Wii away from my boys. Problem was, every time they got bored, they played Wii, then they would fight, then the parents felt compelled to intervene or check out and ignore the situation. Wii was sometimes a tool to enable us parents to get something done around the house or intentionally check out.
Have you done this yourself?
In a few short days, removing Wii has changed our family interaction for the better. My 3 boys are playing outside more, interacting with their neighborhood friends, building legos, having Bakugan battles, started playing tennis, doing more artwork, and returning to pre-Wii life. A life where they are using their creative imagination to escape boredom.
Guess what else has happened, my wife and I have checked back in.
The brilliant Kurt Cobain sung a very poignant line in Nirvana’s 1991 classic Smells like Teen Spirit. He said, “Here we are now, now entertain us.” That line stuck out to me then and it still sticks with me today. I may choose to use distraction to escape my boredom. Too much is at risk for me to rely on distractions to entertain my kids.
Wii was a distraction for my family. The iPad was a distraction for Peter Bergman.
Find a way to limit your distractions. Embrace your boredom. Allow your creative juices to flow. You will be surprised what emerges.
What does escaping your boredom cost you?
