The Lost Art of Boredom (And Why ADHD Brains Still Feel It Constantly)
Remember boredom?
That slow, stretching ache of an afternoon with nothing to do? The kind where you’d lie on your back, stare at the ceiling, and maybe start to imagine your own TV show starring sock puppets and a confused house cat?
That kind of boredom is practically extinct.
And yet—those of us with ADHD still feel it all the time.
We live in an age that should have made boredom obsolete:
✅ Infinite streaming.
✅ Social feeds designed to never end.
✅ Notifications pinging us like a slot machine in our pocket.
✅ Entire universes of distraction two thumb-scrolls away.
So why, in the middle of all this dopamine, do so many ADHD brains still feel deeply, unshakably bored?
🧠 Because Boredom for Us Isn’t About a Lack of Stimulation
It’s about a lack of the right stimulation.
ADHD boredom isn’t cured by more things. It’s only eased by things that light up our brain’s reward system—curiosity, urgency, novelty, creativity, or challenge.
If none of those are present? Even the busiest schedule or the most dopamine-packed playlist can feel like mental white noise.
We don’t need more stuff to do.
We need more stuff that grabs us by the neurons and won’t let go
(here’s why).
🎯 The Real Danger? We’ve Forgotten How to Be Bored on Purpose
Once upon a time, boredom led to breakthroughs:
A kid stuck in the backseat on a road trip invents a game using just passing signs and her imagination.
A man waiting in line starts humming… and it turns into a melody he’ll write down later.
A woman staring at the ceiling ends up writing a poem about dust and loneliness and ends up healing something inside her.
Now? We kill boredom before it has a chance to open its mouth.
But here’s the thing, especially for ADHD minds:
Boredom is where creativity gets born.
It’s the cocoon where daydreams become ideas.
It’s the silent, awkward pause where your brain has no choice but to make something up.
If we never feel that kind of boredom anymore, we rob ourselves of the spark.
🔄 So What Do We Do About It?
If you’re ADHD (or just human in 2025), here’s your radical challenge:
Rediscover the lost art of boredom.
On purpose. Without guilt.
Try one:
Go for a walk without headphones.
Sit with a notebook and no plan.
Stare out a window for five minutes.
Turn your phone on airplane mode and just… exist.
It’ll feel awful at first. Like withdrawal.
But then?
You might notice a thought you haven’t had in years.
You might get the urge to build something weird.
You might remember who you are underneath all the noise.
🛏️ My Own Reminder: It Started with Silence
A couple years ago, I started waking up earlier—not to grind, not to crush my goals, but because I was craving a moment before the world got loud.
At first, I didn’t know what to do with the quiet. I’d just sit there. No TV, no music, no notifications. Just the sound of the coffee maker and my own thoughts.
It felt weird. But eventually, that silence became fertile.
I started journaling. Nothing formal. Just clearing out the noise in my head.
And somewhere in the margins of those early morning pages, an idea started to take root:
“Maybe there’s a book in all this.”
That’s how my memoir began.
It’s not finished yet—but it’s real, it’s in progress, and it exists because I let myself be bored long enough to listen.
🧠 Final Thought: Boredom Isn’t the Enemy. It’s the Portal.
ADHD doesn’t mean we hate stillness. It means we need meaningful stimulation.
And sometimes the only way to find that kind of meaning… is to get bored enough to go looking for it.
So give yourself the gift of an unfilled moment today.
Let your brain stretch.
Let your mind wander.
Let your weird in.
Let yourself find the lost art of boredom.
You never know what might show up.
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