Multiple choice · Test 9

In praise of boredom

Boredom has a bad reputation. We tend to 0see it as something to be avoided at all costs, and, thanks to our phones, we rarely have to 1 up with it for more than a few seconds.

Some researchers, however, believe that a little boredom may do us a great 2 of good. In one well-known experiment, participants who had first been given a dull task — copying numbers out of a telephone directory — went on to 3 up with more creative ideas than those who had not.

The explanation, it seems, is that when there is nothing to 4 the mind, it begins to wander. Daydreaming allows us to make unexpected connections between ideas, and it is often in such moments that the solution to a problem suddenly 5 to us.

This is not to say that we should actively 6 out tedious activities. But it might be worth resisting the urge to reach for our phones every 7 we find ourselves with a spare minute. Simply staring out of the window could 8 out to be time well spent.

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